About 66 per cent of travel and procurement managers expect
their companies will be less likely than before the pandemic to allow travellers
to book directly with suppliers, according to a recent survey conducted by the
Global Business Travel Association.
The GBTA survey was conducted from 5-8 August with
approximately 440 travel managers and travel procurement managers responding
globally.
Similar to the per cent of respondents who said their
companies will place more restrictions on direct supplier bookings, nearly
two-thirds (65 per cent) said the same restriction will apply to online travel
agencies, like Expedia or Booking.com.
That shift may also be reflected in buyers' attitudes toward
off-channel booking capture. Forty-five per cent said their inclinations toward
those tools had not changed, while 25 per cent said they were less likely to
adopt such tools, instead favouring a stronger push for compliance through
preferred channels rather than sweeping up off-channel data. That said, 14 per cent
of respondents said they were more likely than before the pandemic to implement
such tools. The prevailing argument on that side, according to buyers who have
spoken to BTN, is that all bookings need to be supported by duty of care
– no matter how the data enters the system.
In addition to more vigilance around preventing off-channel
bookings, travel and procurement managers are stepping up policies and
processes to ensure the duty of care for employees actively travelling.
More than half have added new rules about pre-trip approval
and 35 per cent now have more frequent or detailed pre-trip communications or
briefings. Twenty per cent who didn't mandate the booking channel previously
have now done so. Nearly a quarter are collecting health information from their
travellers (eg about potential virus exposure or pre-existing conditions).
Twenty-two per cent have clarified or changed rules about ticket credits/unused
tickets, and 20 per cent have allowed more rental car usage.
Regarding what can be booked, companies may hew more sharply
toward known, negotiated products to ensure traveller safety. For example, 40
per cent said their programmes would be less likely to allow travellers to book
"restricted" airfares or hotel rates – ie those that have restrictive
terms and conditions, like basic economy or prepaid, non-refundable hotel
rooms. Forty-seven per cent said that option would be unchanged. For many
travel programmes, however, those options were already discouraged.
Asked how company employees will react to travelling for
business during the first six months after restrictions are lifted, half said
some of their travellers would be willing to travel again. Slightly more than a
fifth said most employees would be willing, another fifth said only a few
employees would be willing to travel. Only 1 per cent said most employees will
be unwilling to travel and 10 per cent didn’t know.
Travel suspension
In addition to travel and procurement managers, GBTA included suppliers, travel management company representatives and "other" respondents in the overall survey, for a total of 827 respondents. About 85 per cent of all the survey respondents have said coronavirus has
caused their companies to cancel all or most travel. For international travel,
93 per cent continue to restrict all or most trips. For domestic travel, 84 per
cent continue to restrict all or most trips.
Respondents who said their companies continue to ban all or
most business travel also were asked their position on resuming travel. About
47 per cent said their companies have considered resuming travel in the
"near future" but do not have definite plans; 24 per cent have said
they do not plan to resume travel in the near future.
The same respondents were asked which of their usual routes
had been most negatively impacted by the coronavirus. The vast majority cited
several markets in Asia. They were also asked which routes were most likely to
resume in the "near future." Forty-two per cent cited the US, followed
Europe at 38 per cent – despite reports of spread in the US and outbreak
clusters in the EU. Asia again was singled out as the last region to which
respondent companies would resume travel, despite reports of broad control over
virus outbreaks there.
These figures would be highly influenced by the organisation's
home country and the status of current travel restrictions. Therefore, survey
demographics could skew these percentages. GBTA did not provide a breakdown of
respondents by country or region.
Business travel recovery is expected to stay slow
About 78 per cent of all respondents said business travel is resuming more
slowly than they had initially expected after Covid-19 was declared a pandemic
in March. Eighteen per cent said business travel has resumed about as quickly
as they expected; 4 per cent said it has resumed more quickly.
Asked how they thought business trip volume would change in
the next three years if a vaccine or other public health measures greatly
reduced the risk from Covid-19, about 42 per cent of respondents predicted
business trip volume will return to pre-pandemic levels within the next three
years. Thirty-nine per cent predicted business travel would not recover to
pre-pandemic levels in that time, even with a vaccine.