The highest numbers of domestic and international business travel bookings were recorded in the first week of February since May 2020.
Latest data compiled for the Business Travel Association showed a 135% year-on-year increase.
Bookings to two key international business destinations – Singapore and the UAE – surpassed levels achieved during the same week in 2019 for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
However, while the statistics highlight an uptick in demand, there has still been an overall £2.60 billion GDP loss associated to domestic and international travel compared to the same week in 2019.
This comes as restrictions remain on travel to many key business travel destinations, and with the industry having not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels, according to the BTA.
The data shows lower levels of business travel in the first week of February to:
- Ireland have cost UK GDP £620 million
- US have cost UK GDP £208 million
- Germany have cost UK GDP £498 million
- France have cost UK GDP £348 million, and
- The Netherlands have cost UK GDP £248 million.