In some areas, business travel is still much lower than it was before the pandemic, the GBTA says

For business travel, the return to pre-pandemic normalcy has been pushed back two years to 2026. International Business Travel Association (GBTA) on Wednesday ITB Berlin 2023. He said that the basic parameters regarding business travel have also changed Susan NuffangCEO of GBTA.

In the year Following a decline in 2020, the curve peaked around 2021/22, but then fell again, partly due to China’s rapid reopening and resurgence of infections there. Currently, the curve is pointing downwards – perhaps until 2026.

During the pandemic, business travel decision-makers have realized that virtual meetings offer advantages in some cases, although on the other hand there is essentially no substitute for meeting in person, Nefang said. Moreover, sustainability has become increasingly important, and small business trips have a small carbon footprint. All this time, business trips for internal meetings did not go out of fashion.

Financial companies and insurance companies easily topped the list of sectors that have more or less resumed business trips before the pandemic, Nufang said. At the other end of the scale were NGOs and foundations.

With 45 percent of travel managers increasing their budgets, that’s a lot to say. Faced with a general skills shortage, travelers’ expectations have risen. Many of them expected to make a combined trip, for example to extend a business trip for a few days at their destination. A survey of travel managers found that employers were split here: 41 percent were in favor, looking up, while 42 percent were opposed.

In summary, she lists five business travel trends: China remains unpredictable, business travelers have high expectations, demand for eco-friendly travel is on the rise, technological change is slowing things down, and personal travel is playing a big role again.