Corporate tourism returns faster than expected

Face-to-face conferences and corporate tourism are returning sooner than anticipated in the US, and this is good news for industries such as airlines and hotels, which depend on corporate travel for a full recovery.

About half of the attendees of a major annual meeting of accountants traveled to Las Vegas last month, substantially more than organizers predicted earlier this year.

And some conferences planned for the fall season have a totally pre-pandemic flavor, with nearly all speakers and attendees scheduling to be on-site rather than using Zoom.

Studies and surveys

The recent recovery was seen in an Association of International Certified Professional Accountants survey of economic prospects for the second quarter, which found that about a third of business leaders estimate that business travel is already returning or will return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year. year.

But corporate tourism still has a long way to go: it’s at 30% to 35% of pre-pandemic levels, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. And it will take even longer for international business travel to return, with many restrictions on travel.

The desire to return to face-to-face meetings is linked to the fast-paced economic recovery in the United States after vaccinations accelerated and restrictions on activities eased – not to mention Zoom’s fatigue.

Summer flights

Global corporate travel bookings are recovering at the rate of 10% week after week, according to TripActions, a corporate travel administrator who monitors ticket distribution rates. They have risen more than 300% since the beginning of the year. The pace picked up in June as vaccination rates increased and offices reopened.

“Renaissance” of business travel

United Airlines announced record demand for jets in June and an expansion of its services to two major business travel destinations: San Francisco and Newark, New Jersey.

In this context, the adaptation of hotels to the famous “new normal” is a requirement – not only with the adoption of strict sanitary standards but also with improvements in the offer of technologies, such as an efficient internet.

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