A quarter of UK business travellers now travelling more than pre-Covid

Business traveller

More than a quarter of UK-based business travellers are now travelling more for work than they did pre-pandemic, according to emergency assistance provider World Travel Protection (WTP)

This conclusion is based on a survey of 500 UK corporate travellers, conducted on behalf of WTP by market insight firm Opinium, which found that 22 per cent of respondents were now ‘on the road’ more often than they were before the pandemic.

Larger organisations have been slower than small and medium-sized businesses in recovering to pre-pandemic levels of travel, with 71 per cent of employees who work at companies with 250-plus employees currently travelling at a frequency lower than pre-pandemic. Only 11 per cent of large company employees said that travel was back to pre-Covid levels.

A quarter of employees said that they missed travelling during the pandemic, with 24 per cent viewing it as one of the ‘best parts’ of their job, and 22 per cent feeling ‘excited’ to meet people face to face again.

However, 16 per cent of respondents welcomed the reduction in travel, saying that they did not want to travel as much as they did pre-Covid, while a similar number said that travelling again was making them nervous.

Many employees feel under pressure to travel

One in ten (11 per cent) admitted to making up excuses to avoid travelling, while 13 per cent said they felt ‘under pressure’ from their employers to travel for work.

Covid rules continue to be a concern for 26 per cent of respondents, while 20 per cent said that they would still not travel to areas with ‘high’ Covid infection rates.

“It’s good to see travel starting up again, but it’s clear from this survey that there’s still a fair bit of apprehension and anxiety associated with travel in the new Covid-affected travel landscape,” said Kate Fitzpatrick, Regional Security Director, UK, at World Travel Protection. “It’s important that travelling teams are properly supported by their organisations, as well as by outside experts, to ensure they can travel as seamlessly as possible with minimal worries.”

WTP also recently announced the appointment of James Tomlin as EMEA Business Development Manager earlier this month.