A solid majority, 82 percent, of travel management professionals in the Asia-Pacific region expect corporate travel in the region over the next year will return at least to pre-pandemic levels, according to a survey of 571 travel agents, including corporate travel agents, and travel management companies conducted by Sabre.
Sabre said the results demonstrate "strong optimism" in the APAC corporate travel market, with 67 percent of corporate travel agencies, 69 percent of travel agencies and 80 percent of TMCs indicating they have seen bookings from corporate clients increase in the three months leading up to August, when the survey was conducted. For about two-thirds of those who saw an increase, that increase was less than 30 percent. Eighteen percent of those reported an increase between 31 and 50 percent, and 14 percent saw an increase of 50 percent or more, according to Sabre.
The increases varied by region. In North Asia, for example, 80 percent of respondents who cited an increase reported an increase of less than 30 percent, as did 62 percent of respondents in South Asia. In Southeast Asia, however, about half of those who saw an increase said it was between 31 and 50 percent. In Japan, 40 percent reported an increase between 21 and 30 percent, and 24 percent reported an increase between 31 and 40 percent.
"Sabre's own booking data is showing that corporate travel is coming back strong, so it's heartening to see those same results borne out among our travel agency partners through our new research," Sabre Travel Solutions VP of agency sales Brett Thorstad said in a statement.
Agents in the survey also said corporate use of low-cost carriers is increasing in the region as cost becomes a bigger consideration. More than two-thirds of agents reported a modest or significant increase of LCC bookings versus full-service carriers, with the increase most pronounced in North Asia, according to Sabre.
Sabre's survey included respondents from 21 countries across the region. It conducted the survey in English, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese.