European business travel recovering at ‘cautionary’ pace

Business travel recovery in 2021 proceeded at a slower pace than expected, particularly in Western Europe where the sector underperformed compared to other global markets, according to regional figures from the latest BTI Outlook by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released last month.

The discovery of new Covid-19 variants such as Omicron has proven a challenge for the global recovery, particularly in Europe. Respondents to a recent GBTA poll who are based in Europe are more likely to say they are concerned or very concerned about the revenue impact of Omicron compared to those based in North America (90 per cent versus 79 per cent).

European respondents are also more likely to report that their companies have introduced new restrictions on non-essential business travel or new requirements as a whole due to Omicron (32 per cent compared to 12 per cent in North America).

While Western Europe is projected to see a full recovery in business travel in 2024 in line with global predictions, Emerging (Eastern) Europe is lagging behind and likely won’t see recovery to pre-pandemic levels until 2025.