corporate travel
managed travel sector is stronger [than pre-Covid]. SMEs have come in which )OLJKW ە ZHUH SUHYLRXVO\ XQPDQDJHG Centre Europe chief financial officer Adam Murray agreed, suggesting “it’s the ZKLFK UHPDLQHG GRZQ ەHFDSV XQPDQDJHG However, major network airlines
reported business travel volumes significantly below 2019 levels. British Airways parent IAG and the Lufthansa Group reported corporate bookings up to 40% below 2019 levels in second-quarter results, with IAG chief executive Luis Gallego suggesting corporate bookings VLQFH 0DUFK +H UHSRUWHG ەGHXDHWDOS“ KDG BA corporate travel revenues at “around DQG YROXPHV
RI ەVOHYHO Lufthansa Group chief executive
Carsten Spohr similarly noted business travel had “recovered to about 60% DQG ەVUHEPXQ RI SUH FULVLV SDVVHQJHU suggested: “German corporate travel ە ZLOO UHPDLQ VWUXFWXUDOO\ VPDOOHU
CONTRASTING ASSESSMENTS
Senior industry figures acknowledged the contrasting assessments. Pat McDonagh, chief executive of Clarity Travel, told Travel Weekly: “Transactions are not back at 2019 levels. [But] revenue is back +H QRWHG ە EHFDXVH DLUIDUHV KDYH ULVHQ “You have more distributed workforces, airlines have restricted capacity [and] corporate rail travel is not back because of the state of the rail network. Confidence ە LQ WKH UDLOZD\V LV VKRW WR SLHFHV The government hardly bolstered confidence by scrapping construction of the planned HS2 high-speed rail link between Birmingham and Manchester in October on the grounds ەGHOEXRG WKDW FRVWV KDG “PRUH WKDQ a move condemned by the BTA. Despite the shortfall in trip volumes,
a study by CBI Economics on behalf of the BTA estimated corporate travel was worth more than £27 billion to the UK economy in 2022, with £10.4 billion attributable to travel management companies (TMCs). The drive by major network airlines to
FIGURE 65:
BUSINESS TRAVEL RECOVERY
% companies rating sector Not
recovered Partially 14% 43% 41% recovered Mostly
Source: GBTA, October 2023 Base: 865 GBTA members
FIGURE 66: PREMIUM CORPORATE TRAVEL As at October 2023
More than a year ago
16%
Don’t know
5% 25% 10 6.8m** 5 54% No change Source: GBTA, October 2023 0 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021* 2022 2023* *April-Dec 2021 **12 months to June 2023 Source: GB Tourism Survey 5.4m*
Less than a year ago
FIGURE 67: 20 18.6m 15
UK DOMESTIC BUSINESS TRAVEL 18.9m
17.6m 16.3m 15.9m 16.8m 16.3m
recovered 1%
recovered
Largely/ fully
transform third-party distribution through New Distribution Capability (NDC) technology triggered a serious dispute in the US where American Airlines withdrew more than 40% of its fares from GDSs from April, making full content only available through NDC channels. The American Society of Travel Advisors (Asta) called for an anti-trust investigation by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), ەUHZRS DOOHJLQJ DQ “DEXVH RI PDUNHW The UK Institute of Travel Management called for “transparency around airlines’ ZDUQLQJ RI “D GHOXJH RI ەQRLWDYLWRP complaints from travellers about fares ەHOEDNRRE EHLQJ YLVLEOH EXW QRW
FIGURE 64: OVERSEAS BUSINESS TRAVEL FROM UK 10
0 2 4 6 8
8.6m 8.1m 9.1m 9m 8.9m 7.7m 8.2m 8.6m 8.7m 8.6m 8.7m 9m 8.8m 8.8m 9.3m 9m 6m 4.8m 2.5m 1.4m
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
**12 months to June 2023 Source: ONS 2017
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023*
Travel Weekly Insight Report 2024 51
Trips (million)
Trips (million)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
