Business Travel

Business Travelers: A Multi-Country Survey Report 

Business Travel

Business Travelers: A Multi-Country Survey Report 

April 2023
Varsha Arora

Skift Take

Business travel spending is unlikely to reach 2019 levels in the near future as corporations are implementing stringent travel policies and the availability of video conferencing options is expected to displace a share of business traffic.

Report Overview

In this report we aim to explore business travelers’ attitudes towards new ways of working and traveling for business in the evolving environment influenced by the pandemic.

We conducted a survey amongst business travelers from four major business hubs – U.S., UK, Australia, and India to get a global perspective on the travel behavior of corporate travelers.

This data-intensive report presents and analyses the finding from this survey, delving into all major aspects of a business trip – purpose, frequency, duration, travel destination, booking methods, and booking behavior with a key focus on flights and accommodation, and including in-destination travel behavior. The report provides country-specific perspectives on broader themes like changes in business travel policies, work arrangement, and business travel spending as a result of Covid. It also focuses on how business travelers perceive traveling for business and the impact it has on their personal spending on leisure trips.

Overall, we found that business trips taken in the past six months have increased from before Covid and the majority of travelers are traveling for business development purposes. However, business travel spending is unlikely to reach 2019 levels in the near future as stringent corporate travel policies are being put in place.

Remote work continues to take over work from office. Remote work arrangements are boosting both business and leisure travel and also the use of coworking spaces.

The gap between intent and action for sustainable business travel is narrowing as companies are interested in increasing sustainable business travel, even if it costs more.

Flights were the most used mode of transportation by business travelers and flight timings and duration are key selection criteria. Most business travelers stay in premium hotels and refrain from booking vacation rentals because of their inferior customer service.

What You'll Learn From This Report

  • Business travel highlights
  • Business travel perception and policy
  • Work arrangements and their impact
  • Business travel and sustainability
  • Booking trends: flights and accommodation
  • In-destination travel behaviour