The spread of the omicron variant of Covid-19 has spurred some new business travel restrictions and darkened some travel buyers' opinions about their travelers' willingness to hit the road, but most are confident that business travel volumes will recover throughout 2022, according to a new survey.
The share of member travel managers and procurement professionals surveyed Jan. 4-13 by the Global Business Travel Association who indicated their travelers were "willing" or "very willing" to travel for business was 64 percent, down from 78 percent in October, the most recent similar survey. That figure also represents a low point in the GBTA surveys since Covid-19 vaccines became widely available in the spring of 2021.
Additionally, about 27 percent of surveyed buyers indicated that their organizations had instituted new business travel restrictions or regulations as a result of omicron's spread, with another 15 percent suggesting their companies might yet do so.
The dates the GBTA survey was in the field correspond with what appears to be the peak of omicron's spread in several parts of the United States, including the Northeast, as well as parts of Europe. Cases in some areas have declined since the first two weeks of January. And most buyer and supplier respondents to GBTA's survey indicated that, however jittery travelers may be today, they still anticipate volumes increasing.
About 75 percent of the 389 member travel managers and procurement professionals GBTA surveyed said they anticipate their organizations' 2022 business travel volume will increase from 2021 levels. Only about 5 percent suggested it would decrease.
Similarly, though about 70 percent of the 319 supplier members surveyed by GBTA projected omicron would have at least some negative financial effect on their companies, about 76 percent projected 2022 business travel revenue would increase year over year, with 5 percent suggesting it would decrease. Several travel management company executives this month told BTN that their corporate clients were treating omicron differently than they did the delta variant that emerged last summer.
Citing a poll respondent, GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang in a statement called omicron a "wet blanket" on business travel, but suggested "there are positive signs, and industry professionals continue to be optimistic for the long-term outlook of global business travel."