The grounding of business travel has directly impacted the
revenues of 45 per cent of companies according to new research – but survey respondents
expect to return to pre-Covid travel volumes when possible.
The survey, conducted by Censuswide on behalf of travel
management company Ventur, also revealed that 42 per cent of companies say the lack of travel
has reduced employee motivation and 40 per cent believe it has impacted productivity.
More than a quarter of respondents (26 per cent) said it has
resulted in lost business and 21 per cent said the pause in travel has led to
employees leaving.
Conducted in April, the research sought the opinions of more
than 500 senior decision makers and indicated that business travel volumes could
return to pre-pandemic levels.
Asked, on average, how many business trips they took as individuals in
a three-month period pre-Covid and how many they expect to take in a three-month
period when they are able, the result was identical – an average of 9.68 trips.
Overall, 87 per cent of respondents said business travel is somewhat
or very important to the success of their business. And when business travel returns,
more than half (55 per cent) said it will enable them to increase their
customer base and 46 per cent expect increased revenues.
“It’s promising to see business owners and directors are expecting
to match their pre‐pandemic travel frequency when they’re
able to travel again,” said Maggie Monteith, client services director at Ventur.
“From working closely with our partners, we understand that they travel to make real
differences, whether that’s closing significant
business deals, leading industry‐defining conferences or creating productions
for national and international television.”
Monteith added: “There’s only so much they can do using video
technology; face to face interaction is vital for building and maintaining
relationships. Clearly this research shows, that’s at the heart of business’
success.”
The research also showed that nearly two-thirds of businesses
(65 per cent) are now more likely to rely on the specialist advice and services
of travel management companies, with 59 per cent of those citing a more complicated
travel landscape for doing so and 44 per cent pointing to duty of care concerns.
Ventur is the new name of Traveleads which revealed a change
of identity earlier this week.