Nearly one quarter of UK-based business travellers are currently travelling more for work than they did pre-pandemic, according to a survey commissioned by emergency assistance specialist World Travel Protection.
The poll of 500 UK corporate travellers, conducted by Opinium, found that 22 per cent were now on the road more often than they were before Covid-19 struck – showing more evidence of pent-up demand for business travel.
Although larger organisations have been slower than SMEs to get back to previous levels of travel, with 71 per cent of employees working for companies with 250-plus employees currently travelling less frequently. Only 11 per cent said that travel was back to pre-Covid levels.
A quarter of employees said they missed travelling during the pandemic, with 24 per cent regarding it as one of the “best parts” of their job and 22 per cent “excited” to be meeting people face-to-face again.
But the survey also revealed that 16 per cent of employees did not want to travel as much as pre-Covid, while a similar number said that travelling again was making them nervous.
Just over one in ten (11 per cent) admitted to making up excuses to avoid travelling while 13 per cent felt “under pressure” from their organisations to travel for work.
Covid rules continue to be a barrier for 26 per cent of travellers, while 20 per cent said they would still not travel to areas with high Covid infection rates.
Kate Fitzpatrick, regional security director, UK, at World Travel Protection said: “It’s good to see travel starting up again, but it’s clear from this survey that there’s still a fair bit of apprehension and anxiety associated with travel in the new Covid-affected travel landscape.
James Tomlin
“It’s important that travelling teams are properly supported by their organisations, as well as by outside experts, to ensure they can travel as seamlessly as possible with minimal worries.”
World Travel Protection, which is part of the Zurich Insurance Group, has also appointed James Tomlin as EMEA business development manager to lead its growth in Europe across the corporate travel risk, mobility and insurance markets.
Tomlin, who will be based in London, has more than 15 years’ experience in international business development in the travel and global mobility sectors.
Michael Nole, executive vice president, sales and marketing, at World Travel Protection, added: “We are delighted to have James join us in EMEA to support our ambition of becoming the largest industry provider of assistance services.”