“The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the world, including travel. It also showed that some business travel is truly essential and having to forgo in-person trips came at a real cost to companies.”
This quote is from Ian Moore, Chief Commercial Officer, VistaJet, which has a vested interest in the return of business travel.
Despite an inherent bias, a study commissioned by the private jet company for Wall Street Journal Intelligence reveals results which support his claim.
VistaJet and Wall Street Journal Intelligence jointly produced The Future of Business Travel report, which revealed that 81 per cent of global business leaders agree that the resumption of business travel will be important in driving their success.
This comes as no surprise, after 97 per cent of executives surveyed reported that their businesses experienced negative impacts directly related to the pandemic-imposed travel restrictions.
In fact, more than a third (37 per cent) of executives said that the lack of in-person affected both the international business development, as well as the product launches of their respective companies.
Travel-facilitated in-person meetings are so important to business success, that 55 per cent of executives said that even if they were limited in the number of private flights they could take, they would still travel to “save” a large client relationship or to deliver on a commitment (53 per cent).
Resultantly, as restrictions ease, built-up anticipation for business travel is clear. Among respondents who take eight or more private flights a year, the survey found that 60 per cent plan to increase in-person meetings significantly.
