Corporate travel recovery well underway
May saw the second-highest sales week ever for UK-based corporate travel specialists Travel Counsellors, with a record £4.5 million in corporate sales
The independent travel company has recorded corporate sales at 154 per cent in May compared the same point in 2019. This outperforms predictions by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), which forecast full business travel recovery by 2024.
Long-haul business travel is definitely back on the agenda. The UK has now lost its top spot as Travel Counsellors’ leading business travel destination – the US is number one, followed by the UK and in third place, South Africa.
Travel Counsellors is finding average lead times of 11 days have returned. The company said this is ‘indicative of how essential it is for clients to have face-to-face meetings and events with existing and new customers’. Group and incentive business travel has also returned, with Travel Counsellors reporting the value of many bookings exceeding £500,000.
Kieran Hartwell, Managing Director, Corporate at Travel Counsellors said: “To be outperforming the market at a time when there are so many variables is of course great news for us. We are also witnessing a real revival of group travel, whether that be business or incentives.”
Leisure travel is also rebounding nicely, according to US travel insurer Squaremouth.