Business travel transactions close to 2019 levels, says Advantage

The Advantage Travel Partnership has revealed optimistic findings and topics ripe for discussion in its latest Global Business Travel Review.

Working in partnership with travel data and reporting specialists, Travelogix, it is the fifth edition of the Global Business Travel Review, which offers insights from travel professionals into traveller and booker behaviour and industry confidence.

The Review looks at data from 18.2 million records, with an aggregate value of £9.2 billion in transactional revenue over the months of June, July and August this year.

The results show there can be continued optimism within the sector. According to the Review, in 2023 year-to-date, business travel volumes are now within 4.7 per cent of 2019 volumes and the average transaction value is £426.66, compared to £308.33 in 2019.

Guy Snelgar, global business travel director of The Advantage Travel Partnership said: “The Global Business Travel Review shows that booking volumes between June – August remain strong despite this traditionally being a quieter time for business travel. 

“It’s also great to see that transaction volumes are now reaching within 4.7 per cent of the pre-pandemic levels of 2019 with overall transaction values well above previous years.”

Snelgar also noted that long-term planning is being prioritised as people look to book earlier in order to manage budgets and that advanced purchases in 2023 are now over 31 days, on average, compared to 21 days in 2022.

The long-term planning may be to address rising costs but also to accommodate trips that could also include multiple meetings or locations, as well as the growing trend of  “work from anywhere” days.

Chris Lewis, founder and CEO of Travelogix, said: “The thirst for travel is clearly there for the business travel community, with 2023 year-to-date showing that we are just 4.7 per cent away from the volumes we witnessed back in 2019 and behaviour metrics like advanced purchase and trip duration are sitting at record highs for 2023; 33.1 days and 7.9 days, respectively.”

The Global Business Travel Review also looks at how business travel payments are going virtual and the opportunities presented by AI, such as how it can help the sector learn more about traveller behaviour and offer speedy analysis of data trends. However, it also raises questions around ensuring GDPR compliance and data integrity in an AI-driven world.

Key numbers in the September Review:

• In 2023 year-to-date, business travel volumes are now within 4.7 per cent of 2019 volumes and the average transaction value is £426.66.
• Average transaction value for the period covered by the latest Review was £417.18, compared to £432.25 in the previous period. Overall, this remains higher than the entire average yearly figure for 2022, which was £406.12.
• Average purchase is now 33.1 days for 2023, compared to the 2022 average of 21.1 days (in 2019 it was 23.4 days).
• The average trip duration so far in 2023 is now 7.9 days, compared to the 2022 average of 7.1 days (in 2019 it was 4.6 days).

Snelgar added: “Despite the ongoing challenges faced by the business travel industry, we have seen its resilience come to the fore through recent years and with demand for business travel clearly evident from companies around the world, there is plenty to be optimistic about as we look ahead.”