US-based corporate travel buyers expect business travel to ramp up and return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2023, according to new research by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA).
A recent survey of 151 corporate travel managers in the US revealed that the majority expect most types of business travel to reach pre-pandemic levels by December.
Nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) of respondents said domestic business travel will fully recover by the year's end while 77 per cent expect external meetings to be back to pre-Covid volumes. A similar proportion of travel managers expect conference/group travel (76 per cent) to fully recover this year, while 69 per cent believe the same for internal meetings.
Only one in 10 travel managers said they do not expect business travel volumes to return until 2025 or later, citing inflation and rising prices as the top concerns, followed by travel disruptions and a potential recession.
Most companies (64 per cent) reported they are unlikely to limit business travel, although many are taking a wait-and-see approach and not seriously considering limiting business travel (36 per cent). Only one in five travel managers said their company (19 per cent) is already implementing a plan to limit business travel.
“This latest research not only provides travel managers with beneficial benchmarking data and a glimpse into the priorities of their peers, but also crucial insights for suppliers and other industry stakeholders to make informed decisions and stay ahead as they plan for the future of business travel,” said GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang.
The research, conducted in association with travel start-up Spotnana, also revealed the changing priorities of buyers, including the need to balance cost savings with traveller experience.
Both travel managers (54 per cent) and senior leadership (65 per cent) are prioritising cost savings, and three in five travel managers (62 per cent) said cost-focused metrics are the most important measures they will use to evaluate their programme’s success in 2023.
Meanwhile, 32 per cent of travel managers said experience-focused metrics will be the ‘single most important’ measure they will use to gauge success.
The report also highlighted the growing complexity of managed travel programmes. Compared to pre-pandemic times, travel managers also reported spending more time focused on traveller communications/answering questions (72 per cent) and overseeing their TMC relationship (59 per cent).
They also reported spending more time on data analysis (52 per cent) and risk management/traveller tracking (42 per cent).