Business travel will never be the same as it was before the pandemic. This realization has been around for several months, but it continues to solidify over time. Bloomberg recently conducted a survey of 45 large multinational companies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and 84% responded that they will reduce their travel budgets. Most of the respondents will cut their budgets by between 20% and 40% compared to pre-pandemic levels. The accessibility and efficiency of virtual tools, the opportunity to reduce costs, and the goal of reducing their companies’ carbon footprints are the main reasons for these cuts.

According to the Global Business Travel Association, corporate travel spending could drop from a pre-pandemic peak of US$1.43 trillion (million million) reached in 2019 to US$1.24 trillion in 2024.

This is very bad news for airlines, which generate two-thirds of their profits from business travelers, even though they account for only 12% of seats sold, according to a PwC study cited by Bloomberg. It is also a major blow to the hotel industry, which could see its revenue drop by 18% due to the decline in business travel.