ASSOCIATION NEWS – 20% less business travel according to Accor
According to the new Accor Report, 20 percent of business meetings may disappear, replaced by virtual equivalents or done away with due to the realisation that they were simply not needed. There will be fewer business trips in the future, but they will be more focused on achieving business objectives. Those that remain will need to be business-critical to justify the financial and carbon costs.
The Business of Travel report is created with the support of European business leaders from 10 industries, including pharmaceutical, technology and finance, who together create a vision for business travel and meetings in a post-pandemic world. Sustainable development, prosperity and the value of human relationships are key watchwords in this world where priorities have shifted significantly and financial budgets are being replaced by carbon budgets. ‘Corporate Social Responsibility – CSR – today means SOS for the Earth – we will travel less to save the planet’.
The report highlights the importance of face-to-face meetings in interpersonal relationships. Meeting in person has many benefits, including the often-overlooked positive impact of social interactions with colleagues and employers. It also found that through face-to-face meetings, employees expect to earn 25% more revenue than can be earned in virtual meetings.
The report also says that the acceleration of virtual meeting technology and the ability of people to use it is a positive side effect of the pandemic. When hotel guests cannot gather in one room where something would ordinarily take place, such as a conference room, they expect hassle-free technology that is easy and intuitive to set up and which provides crystal-clear audio and video quality. Hybrid meetings are now the norm.
A much more purposeful business travel sector has emerged where companies are striving to maximise the value of each trip to reconnect their teams to develop corporate culture, develop strategies, close deals and strengthen individual and company ties. Business travel enables real contacts and is incredibly powerful and valuable, not only financially but – in a new post-pandemic attitude – increases employee satisfaction and well-being and thus loyalty to employers.
The future of business travel is to eliminate non-essential trips and replace them with business-critical ones that are sustainably planned and, secondly, employee-, employer- and planet-friendly.
Full report to download: https://accornortherneuropetrends.com/businessoftravel
Author: Anna Górska, Advisor to the Management Board of Symposium Cracoviense, ICCA Board Member, HelmsBriscoe Consultant, Vice President of the Management Board of SKKP