Slump in business travel recorded at start of Easter break

The start of the Easter holidays saw a slump in business travel, latest data reveals.

Corporate travel in the first week of April slowed as business hours declined for the Easter break.

International and domestic business travel reduced by 46.10% of 2019 levels, according to the Business Travel Association.

There was a £2.80 billion GDP loss associated to domestic and international travel compared to the same week in 2019 due to a reduced number of business travel trips, the figures compiled by analytics firm Travelogix revealed.

BTA chief executive Clive Wratten said: “We understand that growing to full capacity will take time and we are working with TMCs to ensure a smooth recovery process.”

The research also found a “noticeable reduction” in active cases of Covid per 100,000 of population in nine of the ten countries followed by the BTA’s Business Travel Tracker.

The data shows lower levels of business travel in the first week of April to:

• France have cost UK GDP £535 million
• Germany have cost UK GDP £475 million
• USA have cost UK GDP £348 million
• Republic of Ireland have cost UK GDP £267 million, and
• Singapore have cost UK GDP £203 million this week.