The devastating effects of COVID-19 have stalled business operations worldwide. Industrial operations have come to a standstill, and there really seems to be no respite for business owners as such. The travel industry has been grinded to a halt with lockdown after lockdowns in place, though they cannot be maintained indefinitely. While the pandemic is not yet over, most corporate employees have been asked to work from home and hold meetings virtually. As a result, corporate travel, which includes planning a business trip, conducting a corporate event, or other related activities for the corporate traveller, has been severely hit. 

How do the current T & E numbers stand?
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) published a report that 98 percent of its member companies had put off international business trips, and 92 percent cancelled all or most domestic trips. However, the survey conducted during the month of Month later had it that more than 50 percent of its respondents had wanted to resume travel in the coming months.  These numbers shouldn’t actually surprise you, given the gravity of business travel activities. Furthermore, Certify, a leading T & E report management solution provider, estimates that 445 million business trips happen every year, valued at around $251 billion. GBTA estimates the same to be around $345 billion for T&E. 

An Oxford Economics study puts it that every dollar invested in business can generate as much as $12.50 back in revenue.  If you put it all together, the corporate firms are losing revenue big time, as well as the travel tour operators, agencies and the travel management companies (TMCs) owing to the travel ban in the prevailing pandemic situation. 

Another survey conducted by Oliver Wyman has it that about three-quarters of business travellers expect to travel in the same frequency or even more post-pandemic, due to resurgence in economic activity, comparatively low travel costs with the easing of lockdown, and pent-up demand after hosting virtual meetings for several months. Even after lockdown is over, and when business will eventually pick up, business travellers will think twice before travelling internationally to stay away from infection. Let’s see how travel business travel will look up post COVID-19 situation in the subsequent blogs.