The corporate travel sector is unlikely to see a smooth return to ‘normal’ amid spikes in Covid-19 infection and growing pressure on businesses to bolster their carbon-reduction efforts.
That is according to management consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG) which warns “it won’t be a linear return” to a “new normal” for business travel.
BCG partner Rick Lewis cautioned against expecting “a full return to normal for business travel until 2023 or beyond”, with the UK and Europe “returning more slowly” than the US.
And he warned: “As new [Covid] variants emerge, it won’t be a linear return. Rather we expect seasonal peaks in the coming months and years depending on the severity of the pandemic.”
More: Covid surge triggers fresh travel slump in China
Government cracks down on ‘cowboy’ Covid test providers
In addition, Lewis noted: “A record number of companies are committing to ambitious sustainability goals and looking to re-evaluate business travel.”
Almost half of BCG clients are seeking to reduce their travel budgets, he said.
BCG aims to cut the carbon footprint of its own corporate travel by almost one-third by 2025, but by more in the UK.
Writing for the Travel Weekly Business:am alert, Lewis noted: “Just under 50% of travel managers are considering reducing travel budgets.”
As a consequence, he argued: “The pressure on airlines from corporates for information on emissions will increase.”
He argued: “At BCG we aim to cut 30% of our emissions from business travel by 2025. [But] in the UK, we’ll reduce business travel emissions by at least 50% by 2025 compared with 2018.”
Lewis forecast “a short-term spike in travel as people re-energise in-person relationships” before the sector settles to a ‘future normal’”.
He insisted: “Business travel is not dead, but it will look different.”
The latest Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) poll in July suggested only about one in four non-essential international business trips (26%) are currently being sanctioned, with half the poll respondents (52%) attributing this to government travel restrictions.
GBTA found three out of 10 companies plan to resume international travel within one to three months and half considering resuming international travel “soon” but with no definite plans. One in 10 had no plans to resume.