Business travel recovery under way in Asia Pacific … but it’s complicated

Business travel in Asia Pacific — and globally — is recovering strongly post-COVID, along with the tourism industry more generally. However, the rebound is complicated by lingering concerns about health and safety, as well as ESG (environmental, social, and governance) worries.

Delegates heard about this at the PATA — GBTA APAC Travel Summit 2022. Themed “Getting Back to Business Travel, Tourism, and MICE”, the event is taking place December 8–9, 2022 at the newly-rebuilt Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok, Thailand.

[Disclaimer: This post is a ‘hot take’ from the first day, December 8, published the morning after. Your correspondent jotted down the gist of what he heard during the sessions, and may have mistyped, misunderstood, or simply missed something.]

Topics

• Statistics and trends
• On BCorp, sustainabilty, and Travelyst
• Tech won’t supplant the face-to-face meeting, but remains important
• Eight trends shaping travel management to 2030
• Travel is a beneficiary of the most interesting time in human history
• Incentives to change for the better
• Aviation needs better tools and technologies for climate change mitigation

Statistics and trends

At the top of the program, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) President & CEO Liz Ortiguera said that every week she was hearing more and more good news for Asia Pacific travel & tourism.

Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) CEO Suzanne Nuefang backed that optimism, citing statistics showing that global business travel will end 2022 at 60% of 2019 (pre-COVID) levels, with 2023 levels predicted to reach 80% of 2019.

In 2022, Asia Pacific leads the world in corporate travel with a plurality of 44% of the total. The region is leading the recovery too; travelling for business at 66% of pre-COVID levels in 2022.

According to Ms Ortiguera, there are six megatrends driving travel & tourism:

1. The conscious traveller (87% of respondents of a survey think a social and environmental consciousness is important; 81% of respondents want the money they spend to benefit locals in the destination.);
2. Conscious communities/destinations (a destination marketing and management organisation mindset; dispersion strategies; community-centred tourism; high-value travellers; work visas and digital nomadism; improved staff engagement);
3. An event-led recovery for Asia Pacific;
4. Wellness travel;
5. Authenticity and a sense of place; and
6. Multi-purpose and longer trips (including ‘bleisure’, combining business with leisure)

Ms Nuefang pointed out that while Asia Pacific leads the world in business travel, the big nations, such as China, dominate business travel spend in Asia Pacific. (Yet due its zero-COVID policies, China has barely contributed to the recovery.)

At the other end of the scale, many of the smaller Asia Pacific nations, such as Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore. which together account for a tiny fraction of regional business travel, have seen huge recovery rates off low bases. For example, Singapore’s business travel is set to triple in 2022 over 2021.

It seems that after a couple of years of COVID lockdown-induced teleconferencing, there is a hunger for face-to-face meetings.

Ms Nuefang presented five trends related to business travel:

1. New opportunities (digital nomadism; corporate travel managers at the corporate strategy table);
2. A people-first approach;
3. Self-servicing (perhaps due to staff shortages);
4. Digitalisation; and
5. Sustainability (initiate or self-regulate what policymakers might eventually impose).

Back to menu ^

On BCorp, sustainabilty, and Travelyst

Ms Neufang then sat down with Intrepid Travel Cofounder and Travelyst Chairman Darrell Wade for a “fireside chat”. (There was no fire.)

They talked about BCorp certification, which Mr Wade described as … read the full “Good Tourism” special report at The “Good Tourism” Blog.