Half of travel buyers indicated their organizations'
employees now are very or somewhat willing to travel, according to a new Global
Business Travel Association survey. The survey, conducted Nov. 9-16, coincides
with news
of the apparent efficacy of multiple potential Covid-19 vaccines.
GBTA surveyed 822 industry professionals, 40 percent of whom
were travel managers or procurement professionals.
About 42 percent of non-European travel buyers surveyed
indicated they expect their organizations within six months to reach half of
its 2019 domestic business travel level, and another 39 percent expect to reach
that level within a year. About 58 percent of European buyers expect to reach
that 50 percent threshold within six months, another 33 percent within a year,
and 3 percent already have reached it.
GBTA did not detail the number of European and non-European
buyers in its survey.
Meanwhile, about 59 percent of non-European buyer respondents
said their organizations wouldn't reach 50 percent of 2019 levels of
international travel for at least another 10 months.
Buyers also were asked how willing their companies would be to
encourage employees to download an app that would track and trace travelers to
assist in contact-tracing efforts. About half said their companies would be very
or somewhat willing to implement such a policy, with 15 percent unwilling, with
the rest either unsure or "neither willing nor unwilling."