It’s Summertime And Business Travel Is Resuming: GBTA

A new poll by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) reports that there is a continuation of the positive momentum reported in its May poll as companies implement or finalize plans to resume domestic business travel.

As the summer of 2021 arrives, the GBTA found that two-fifths (40%) of respondents say their company’s plan to resume non-essential domestic business travel has “already happened” in the country where they are based – compared with last month’s 34% allowing “some” domestic travel. An additional one-third (33%) say their company has finalized a date (8%) — or is working to finalize a date (25%) — to resume domestic business travel. Only one-quarter are “waiting to see what happens” (18%) or are “not sure” (6%).

But it also reported that while domestic business travel nears a return, the outlook for international business travel remains murky. More than three in five respondents (62%) say their company is waiting to see what happens or is not sure about resuming non-essential international business travel from the country where they are based. And in Canada, both domestic and international business travel plans have taken restart delays.

GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang observed that: “After a spring marked by growing optimism in most regions, many companies are now making plans to resume business travel – especially in the US and Europe. While there is still caution around cross-border travel, almost three-quarters of our poll respondents say their company has resumed non-essential domestic business trips, or is working to finalize a date to resume these trips.”

Neufang continued: “Optimism has given way to action, and the gradual support of corporate policies to resume business travel has actually begun. While this is an important breakthrough, our research says it will take some time for companies to allow as many trips – or even the same kind of travel – as they did before the pandemic.”

Go to www.gbta.org for more.