Business Travel begins to take off, but Full......
Key takeaways
- Corporate travel spend in the U.S. and Europe is projected to surpass half of 2019 levels in the first half of 2023
and rise to two-thirds by the end of the year. Full recovery following the pandemic appears likely by late 2024 or early 2025. - Live events are set to comprise a significant share of corporate travel, advancing from the fifth biggest driver of increased spend in 2022 to the top spot in 2023. More than half of travel managers in both the U.S. and Europe expect industry events to spur travel growth this year.
- International trips will account for a larger portion of the recovery this year: The international share of travel costs for U.S. companies is expected to rise from 21% in 2022 to 33% in 2023.
- Amid increased workplace flexibility and use of technology, travel for clients outweighs travel for team building and internal meetings.
- Travel buyers are renegotiating contracts with suppliers and balancing lower expected trip volumes with higher rates for hotel rooms and airfare.
- One-third of U.S. companies and 4 in 10 European companies say they need to reduce travel per employee by more than 20% to meet their 2030 sustainability targets.
Why this matters
Though leisure travel reached pre-pandemic levels, corporate travel has been slower to return. A variety of factors appear to impact the decision to travel for business including employee safety, client interest in meeting in person, the value of attending a conference, and whether virtual conferencing platforms can replace a trip. Although pandemic concerns and testing regulations generally waned in the second half of 2022, financial concerns seem to continue to create uncertainty for the sector. The third edition of Deloitte’s corporate travel study, “Navigating Toward a New Normal,” examines why and when employees are expected to travel for business, as well as the dynamics creating headwinds and opportunity for the sector.
The study is based on a survey of 334 U.S.-based and European executives with travel budget oversight, fielded between Feb. 7 and Feb. 23, 2023.
