Vaccination against Covid will be a critical factor in opening up corporate travel, according to the latest survey of members of the Global Business Travel Association.
The poll, of 760 buyers, suppliers and intermediaires, found that 59 per cent of those surveyed said that the availability of vaccines would be a significant factor in their company’s decision to resume travelling. Just 4 per cent said it would not be a factor. Of those who felt it would be significant, 30 per cent said employees would only be permitted to travel again if they had been vaccinated.
Buyers were overwhelmingly pessimistic about the level of travel spend in 2021, with 90 per cent of buyers saying they would spend less next year than in 2019. Buyers, on average, expected 2021 spend to be around half of what it was last year. More than half of buyers (52 per cent) said they had not yet begun planning to host or attend meetings and events in 2021.
The survey, carried out between 7 and 13 December, also revealed that half of companies have banned all international travel while one in five has banned all domestic travel.
Despite this, some 30 per cent of buyers feel more optimistic about business travel than they did in last month’s survey but 46 per cent of travel suppliers answering the poll said their bookings from corporate customers had declined in the week before the survey was carried out.
Three out of four respondents expected employees to attend in-person meetings/events in Q2 or Q3 2021, with 89 per cent of respondents set to attend an in-person meeting or event with attendees outside their company by Q3 2021.
Dave Hilfman, the interim executive director of GBTA, said, “What we’re seeing in this latest poll is a number of reasons for the business travel industry to be optimistic about 2021, especially toward the middle of the year. As the vaccine rollout gains momentum and if we see a corresponding drop in positive Covid-19 test results, this survey suggests something of a return to personal connections and in-person meetings and events in the business space.”