Business Trips Struggle to Recover in the Age of Zoom Video Meetings
- Companies in no rush to send their people back out on the road
- On earnings calls, executives cite savings from video meetings
The Global Business Travel Association estimates that worldwide spending on commercial travel won’t recover to its pre-pandemic peak of $1.4 trillion until 2025.
Photographer: Laurel Chor/BloombergIn much of the economy, the big question is when it will be safe to go back to pre-pandemic patterns of spending. For business travel, it’s more like: Who will want to?
Corporate chiefs have noted the effectiveness of video-conferencing tools -- and the money they saved. Many have also pledged to reduce carbon emissions. The upshot may be bad news for anyone looking forward to resuming a road-warrior lifestyle.
The Global Business Travel Association estimates that worldwide spending on commercial travel won’t recover to its pre-pandemic peak of $1.4 trillion until 2025. In the U.S., the latest Census Bureau survey of small businesses found that only 27% of companies expect to spend money on travel in the next six months.