Delta Hangover Beginning to Wear Off as Traveler Confidence Index Rises for Business and Leisure
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Colleen Gallagher
315.447.2331
October 12, 2021 (Washington, DC) – Business travelers are generally optimistic about the long-term recovery and future for business travel prospects as less than 1 in 10 (8.8%) think they will never travel for business as much as they did before the pandemic, according to the latest monthly Traveler Confidence Index developed by Travel Again. Two-thirds (67.2%) feel they either already are or will be traveling as frequently for business as they did pre-pandemic by the end of 2022. Another 22.4% and 4.0% think they'll hit the same level of pre-pandemic business travel some time in 2023 or in 2024, respectively.
“Business travelers innately understand the importance of business travel in driving business growth, so it comes as no surprise that many expect to resume traveling as frequently as they did before the pandemic,” said Travel Again Co-Founder Mike McCormick. “While some naysayers have predicted massive permanent drops in business travel, it is much more likely that businesses are in a bit of a competitive détente -- while they may all be saving money now on travel costs, once one competitor resumes previous levels of travel, others will follow suit so as not to be left behind.”
Additional Key Findings
The number of business travelers reporting that they feel fully ready to travel today jumped by 10 percentage points this month to 33.6%. At the same time, those reporting they have no confidence in travel fell to its lowest level in the year we've been tracking confidence, falling below 1% (0.8%).
The most important confidence building elements for business travelers include vaccinations for yourself, empty middle seats and vaccinations for travel providers. On the leisure side, there were mandatory masks, limited crowd sizes and frequent cleaning. In fact, the popularity of mask wearing as a way to make leisure travelers feel more confident increased to its highest level since March.
Traveler Confidence Index: After dropping steadily since peaking in May, the Business Traveler Confidence Index jumped back up to 3.66 this month compared to 3.30 in August. Following two consecutive months of declines on the leisure side, the Index steadied and crept up from 3.43 last month to 3.49 today.
Travel Again has developed the Traveler Confidence Index assessing confidence levels in both the business and leisure traveler to guide the prioritization of future travel industry initiatives by measuring the impact on traveler confidence. This 12th edition focuses on U.S. travelers and we will continue reporting out on the index monthly, and will ultimately expand to include other countries as well.
About Travel Again: Travel Again unites the global travel industry to restore consumer and corporate confidence in traveling and to encourage responsible government policy. Visit travelagainproject.org for more information. Join Travel Again and support the global recovery of the travel industry. Follow Travel Again on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.