While a new global survey of travel managers and industry suppliers
doesn't show any particular increase in optimism about near-term business
travel demand, a few other indicators and comments point to perhaps a stronger
stretch of interest.
The number of travel managers in a September survey who
consider their organisations' employees willing to travel for business declined
from August levels and now stands at the lowest level since April 2021. In the
7-12 September survey of around 280 member travel buyers and procurement
professionals conducted by the Global Business Travel Association, about 69 per
cent said their organisations' employees were "very wiling" or
"willing" to travel. That's down from 72 per cent in August and 77
per cent in July.
Travel supplier respondents to the GBTA survey, meanwhile, aren't
exactly brimming with optimism either. About 38 per cent of the approximately
160 suppliers surveyed said travel bookings had declined in the past month,
compared with 31 per cent in August and 3 per cent in July. (GBTA for this
month's survey changed the wording of that question, and previously asked
respondents how bookings had changed in the prior week.)
Still, the number of member travel supplier respondents who
said their bookings have increased rose to 32 per cent in September from 24 per
cent in August.