Travellers more ‘environmentally conscious’ after pandemic

Enterprise travellers are popping out of the Covid-19 pandemic with a “extra environmentally acutely aware mindset”, which may affect the return of journeys to pre-Covid ranges.

A panel of business figures instructed delegates on the Enterprise Journey Present Europe in London on Wednesday (29 June) that staff now had larger curiosity in travelling extra sustainably.

Ami Taylor, senior director product technique at SAP Concur, mentioned its analysis confirmed that “different parts had crept into the choice” about whether or not to journey or not, together with extra travellers being keen to refuse a visit as a result of they have been feeling “burnt out” or couldn’t journey sustainably on the route.

“They’re keen to increase their journey for longer if they may journey extra sustainably – by switching from aircraft to coach the place it’s possible,” added Taylor.

The panel mentioned it was “powerful” to foretell whether or not 2022 journey volumes would attain pre-pandemic ranges with the price of journey rising quickly for a lot of providers. 

There was additionally a “very blended” image amongst consumers: a snap ballot discovered that 38 per cent had already seen air volumes surpass 2019 ranges however 26 per cent have been nonetheless at lower than 50 per cent of pre-Covid flights.

Michael Riegel, normal supervisor, Europe, at TripActions, mentioned journey was “massively coming again” this yr, though the kind of journey had modified with distant employees now having to journey to satisfy up with their groups.

He added that sustainability was a “subject for years to come back”, with purchasers already spending extra time their carbon emissions knowledge on TripActions’ dashboards. The TMC has additionally been seeing “behavioural change” in purchasers utilizing trains as a substitute of flights for some journeys.

Consumers have been additionally suggested to not depend on 2019 value comparisons for flights and different providers as a result of inflation was pushing up charges throughout the business.

Pascal Jungfer, CEO of Areka Consulting, mentioned he anticipated round 30 per cent of journey volumes to go “off the desk” as folks relied extra closely on video calls as a substitute.

He additionally suggested firms to not impose “strict guidelines” about whether or not journeys ought to go forward or not.

“Imposing strict guidelines is troublesome as a result of it may be too inflexible. On the finish of the day, whether or not to journey or have folks journey is a enterprise choice – the choice to journey will all the time be a administration choice,” mentioned Jungfer. “However you should have tips to assist folks.”