Nearly three quarters of GBTA members say their company’s business travel spending increased ‘somewhat’ to ‘a lot’ in June compared to May.
One in five reported that spending remained ‘the same’ while only 6% said their travel spend had decreased.
According to the global poll, which had 618 responses, the average increase in spend from May to June was 41.8%.
Respondents said they also feel more optimistic about the industry’s path to recovery, with 54% reporting they feel more optimistic compared to a month ago and 40% saying they feel the same.
Only 6% say they feel more pessimistic about the industry’s path to recovery.
Meanwhile, 77% feel their employees are ‘willing’ or ‘very willing’ to travel for business in the current environment.
The remaining members feel their employees are not willing (4%), are neutral (12%) or are unsure (7%) of their willingness to travel for business.
Just over half (52%) said government policies and restrictions relating to international business travel continue to impact their companies’ ability to conduct important business functions such as networking, business prospecting, planning and sales meetings.
“There is clearly an appetite to resume non-essential business travel and in-person meetings to promote collaboration, networking and business opportunities and interestingly it doesn’t appear that cost savings are necessarily a key driver in waiting to get travellers back out on the road,” said Suzanne Neufang, CEO GBTA.
‘However, government policies and restrictions on international travel continue to hinder progress in pursuing activities so important to conducting business.”
