As hybrid and remote working becomes more commonplace among organisations, team meetings will become a lot more important in terms of building culture. Photo Credit: Adobe/sutlafk
An increase in wellness retreats, buyers adopting a more strategic
role and fewer concerns over Covid are some of the factors shaping
business travel in 2023.
These issues were discussed during a recent webinar, entitled ‘Fast
Track Your Corporate Travel Business', hosted by the Global Business
Travel Association (GBTA) and with Cvent taking part.
Catherine Logan, regional vice president for EMEA at GBTA said that
while domestic business travel had led the recovery of business travel
in destinations worldwide, international travel is now closing the gap.
The webinar featured data compiled from GBTA’s Business Travel Index,
released in August and a recent poll among more than 500 of GBTA’s
members.
Economic factors are eclipsing Covid fears. When asked what factors
are likely to limit business travel in 2023, 80% of GBTA poll
respondents cited economic concerns as the primary reason, while only 4%
mentioned Covid-19. “Certainly in the UK, there is lots of talk about
the cost of living crisis and rising energy prices and the impact this
will have on business travel,” said Logan.
Remote
and hybrid ways of working could lead to an increase in internal
summits or retreats. GBTA’s Logan said, “If staff are spread around a
country or in destinations across the world, employers might hold
regular internal meetings where employees meet in person to facilitate
collaboration and company culture. Team meetings will become a lot more
important in terms of building culture.”
If staff are spread around a country or in destinations across the world, employers might hold regular internal meetings where employees meet in person to facilitate collaboration and company culture.
Catherine Logan, regional vice president for EMEA, GBTA
Buyers and suppliers have their roles cut out for them, with Logan
observing that in recent months buyers’ roles have become more
strategic. “They had a lot more access to the C-level where they had to
play a guiding role, because travel is such a huge duty of care and
responsibility. I hope buyers will continue to have access to senior
level people.” she said.
And as the economic landscape becomes more challenging, there will be
more pressure on buyers to demonstrate return on investment in travel.
Suppliers need to be able to support buyers, whether this is in terms
of reporting, around changing product offerings or finding best value.
“One example around changing product offerings is to look at hotels. If
people are working remotely, they need to find somewhere to work or to
meet for a day – these are obvious ways in which a hotel may want to
consider shifting its product offering,” said Logan.
‘Bleisure’ trips could become increasingly popular. With remote
working continuing post-pandemic – GBTA data shows that 45% of
organisations have remote working in place – Logan anticipates that
business travel will involve longer stays and will be increasingly
combined with leisure activities.
“There’s
also something around a push for wellbeing, where people don’t
necessarily want to be flying backwards and forwards and are instead
looking for longer, more efficient trips, where they can create more
value, incorporating a weekend stay for example,” remarked Logan.
Sustainability, price and value are the top three considerations
hotels need to bear in mind when negotiating with buyers in 2023.
Cvent’s senior sales director, supplier and venue solutions Riccardo
Galanti pointed out how Cvent data has shown a marked shift in hotel
room prices shifting from standalone rates to more dynamic ones, while
Logan highlighted how the GBTA is developing benchmarking tools to help
members and the wider industry achieve sustainability goals.