One in two corporate travel buyers worldwide say companies are considering resuming travel “in the near future” but fewer than one in five in Europe plan to do so in the next three months.
The findings, from the latest Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) survey, suggest almost half (44%) believe “the worst is yet to come” in revenue loss and layoffs in the corporate travel sector.
The GBTA survey found more than half of travel buyers (56%) have seen company travel policies change in light of Covid-19.
GBTA reports the changes include new rules on pre-trip approval (53%), more frequent or detailed pre-trip communications (35%), more health information on travellers (24%) and rules on unused tickets (22%).
The survey found 49% of travel buyers are considering a return to travel internationally or domestically “in the near future”.
However, just 17% in Europe said their companies plan to resume travel within three months.
One in three US travel buyers (34%) said they were planning to restart travelling within three months, but only 10% did so in China.
Globally, 29% said they did not plan to restart travelling internationally and 18% were unsure.
Domestic business travel is widely forecast to resume first, but the study found sharp regional variations.
In Europe, 77% of GBTA members said they expected domestic travel to return in the next two to three months compared with 37% in North America.
The survey similarly found that while one in three GBTA-member companies (33%) in Europe expected international corporate travel to resume in the next two to three months, just 13% do so in North America.
GBTA noted a need for increased communication on travel safety protocols, reporting that while a majority of companies (68%) said they had enough information on cleaning and sanitation practices, one in four (24%) wanted more.
Almost two in five (37%) wanted more information on flight rescheduling or check-in procedures.
Four out of five travel suppliers (81%) reported they had furloughed employees and 78% had reduced or laid-off staff.
GBTA executive director Dave Hilfman said: “The slow recovery of business travel continues, with a noticeable uplift in Europe.
“The US recovery has remained largely static, probably in line with new Covid-19 cases that dominate our headlines, slowing progress.”
Hilfman added: “Buyers have had to adapt to the changing demands, significantly altering travel policy to reflect the increase in health and safety protocols.”
The survey of GBTA member companies was conducted on July 7-13 and received 2,167 responses.