Most companies are planning COVID-19 recovery for 2020, with one-third preparing for it in the next three months, according to a new report by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA).
“The global business travel industry remains at a standstill but we are finally beginning to see some light at the end of this very long tunnel,” says GBTA CEO, Scott Solombrino.
GBTA is a business travel and meetings trade organization with operations on six continents. It surveyed almost 1,600 member companies worldwide to understand the coronavirus’s effects on business travel.
Among the poll’s findings, almost two-thirds of companies that have cancelled some domestic business trips expect domestic travel to resume in the next two to three months. Eighty-eight per cent expect employees will be willing to travel once restrictions are lifted. When broken down regionally, European companies are more optimistic than their North American counterparts about the resumption of domestic travel.
Looking at what it will likely take GBTA members to feel comfortable with employees travelling for business, many cited the need for a decline in new infection rates (92%); governments lifting travel restrictions and advisories (91%); guidelines or statements from public health agencies, such as the World Health Organization or the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (90%); effective anti-viral treatments (89%); removing stay-at-home lockdowns (88%); and a new coronavirus vaccine developed and available to employees (85%).
GBTA supplier member confidence in the industry’s path to recovery varies, with more than half with feelings unchanged about the current situation.
There is more consensus when thinking about cancelled flights. More than three-quarters of surveyed members are of the opinion the worst is behind them.
“We have waited a long time for there to be optimism around the pandemic in our industry and it should continue to grow as we get closer to halting the spread of this disease,” says Solombrino.
Full results of the GTBA’s study can be found on the association’s report.
