Industry players believe that travel volumes will reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year and while economic inflation looms as a big concern globally, corporate travel programmes have not been cut, according to a survey conducted by the GBTA in the US.
Half of the corporate customers and buyers surveyed in the US survey said inflation and rising prices were their top concern but that the number of trips for corporate domestic travel and external meetings had already returned to pre-pandemic levels.
And, a recent Travel News poll saw 70% of agents agreeing with this sentiment – domestic corporate travel is making a comeback!
Carla da Silva, Executive Manager Sales & Marketing for Airlink, said travel activity was currently at about 85% of the 2019 watermark. “Some routes have performed well and have eclipsed the pre-pandemic standard but there is still some way to go.
“We expect a full recovery by the end of this calendar year on most routes. We recognise that travel patterns have changed significantly, especially where access to and from the world and South Africa has become more concentrated in the Middle East region. Due to substantial demand, Cape Town is emerging as an increasingly more important market with a growing number of long-haul carriers arriving and departing. Airlink will continue to add flights to our existing networks and our thirty partner airlines. About 60% of our customers travel for business purposes.
“Although we have recently experienced a substantial increase on the domestic front, one must be cognisant that there are inhibitors such as a smaller consumer base due to less disposable income and capacity constraints with the departure of several domestic airlines and flights from the South African market,” said Da Silva.
Robyn Christie, Consultant and Director of Development Promotions, said GBTA South Africa had been communicating with buyers and suppliers with regard to post-COVID recovery and the consensus was that corporate domestic travel was back.
Said Christie: “Our buyers are saying that in the last six to eight months, corporate domestic travel has surpassed 2019 numbers and despite capacity challenges in the SA domestic airline market, they anticipate that by the end of this year those numbers will surpass 2019. Although we saw some caution from corporates initially, local incentives, travel groups and individual travellers are on the move again. They are taking risk management and traveller wellness more seriously but we are definitely much closer to a full recovery than was initially anticipated.”
