Business travel to resume and recover
Business travel is on the road to recovery, as evidenced by the forecasts announced at the Global Business Travel Association’s 2021 Convention held last week in Florida, US
After navigating months of pandemic-related planning, the event attracted over 3,500 registered professionals from more than 20 countries. The state of the industry, the future of work, sustainability, diversity, equality and inclusion, and wellness were prominent themes and topics of the convention, mirroring the evolution of the industry.
“This was certainly a GBTA Convention like no other, in a year that’s been like no other. But what was clear is that we’re getting back to business and getting back to travel,” said Suzanne Neufang, CEO, GBTA.
Business travel to grow in the next four years
GBTA released its latest Business Travel Index 2021-2025, revealing travel spending is forecast to surge in 2022 with full recovery expected in 2024 – ending the year back to 2019 pre-pandemic global business travel spending of US$1.4 trillion.
The GBTA-CWT Global Business Travel Forecast 2022 showed global travel pricing increases are ahead. In 2022, flight prices are expected to rise 3.3 per cent, hotel rates 13 per cent and ground transportation 3.9 per cent. This will be primarily driven by increasing demand, capacity constraints and travellers’ sustainability demands, plus increased labour and fuel costs.