Business travel continues to rebound from the pandemic, though at different paces in different places.
The Global Business Travel Association conducted an online flash poll in January of GBTA members and non-members worldwide, including corporate travel managers and travel suppliers. In total, 637 business travel professionals responded.
Domestic travel leads the recovery. On average, travel managers estimate their company’s domestic bookings are at 67% of pre-pandemic levels – up from 63% in October 2022.
Europe’s domestic recovery, however, is lagging slightly. On average, Europe-based travel managers estimate their company’s domestic business travel bookings have recovered to 63% of the pre-pandemic level. That number is slightly lower than the estimated average for North America at 68%. However, Europe has seen stronger recovery of international bookings.
Domestic spending is also recovering at a similar pace as bookings. On average, travel managers estimate their company’s domestic business travel spend has recovered to 68% of the pre-pandemic level. On average, North America and Europe-based travel buyers estimate their company’s domestic business travel spend has recovered to about two-thirds of the pre-pandemic level.
International business travel continues to slowly gain ground. In January 2022, international business travel remained virtually at a standstill with nearly 60% of travel managers saying their company “never” or “rarely” allowed these trips. In the following months, those trips made a strong comeback, with travel managers in October 2022 estimating their company’s international bookings had recovered to 50% of the pre-pandemic level on average. Since then, the recovery has slowed – but continues to trend in a positive direction. Travel managers currently estimate their company’s international bookings have recovered to 54% of the pre-pandemic level.
The survey found another positive trend: Willingness to travel has soared. Nine in 10 travel buyers (91%) say their company’s employees are at least somewhat willing to travel for work in the current environment. While this is similar to the figure from October 2022 (86%), there has been a dramatic increase in the share who feel their employees are “very willing” to travel. Nearly 70% of travel managers now say their company’s employees are very willing to travel, compared to 44% in October.
Despite a widely anticipated recession this year, travel managers expect more business travel. More than three-quarters of travel managers (77%) expect their company will take more business trips this year than it did last year. Only 7% expect their company will take fewer trips.
For more information, view the GBTA Business Travel Outlook Poll results.
