Corporate travel, a vital segment for the reconstruction of tourism

The restoration of “air corridors” between the main financial centers of the world is vital to boost the recovery of the tourism industry and the global economy.

Every year, international business trips invoice more than US $ 272 billion, a not inconsiderable figure but very small compared to family tourism.

Pleasure trips represent the largest part of international tourism spending with 83.77%, while the corporate segment barely reaches 16.23%.

With these figures in hand, it is clear that the reopening of tourism that we have seen in recent days is not enough to suggest a recovery.
Restoring international business travel across the Atlantic could benefit the entire sector; from airlines and hotels to ground transportation companies, reviving tens of thousands of jobs and a multitude of companies that depend on this niche for their survival.

However, WTTC warns that this will only happen if governments take a specific approach, eliminating hard-hitting quarantines in all countries that have a devastating economic impact.
The WTTC pilot scheme with its twin testing regimen will help companies ensure it is safe for their employees to travel and eliminate the need for useless quarantines.

“We need a concerted international framework at the highest level to introduce comprehensive, rapid and cost-effective testing at airports, with a globally accepted standard for contact tracing and widespread use of face masks.”
“Continuing with the current chaos would be a huge mistake and would cause more serious economic damage and unnecessary hardship to millions of people around the world,” said Gloria Guevara, President and CEO of WTTC.

WTTC has continuously been at the forefront leading the private sector in efforts to rebuild global consumer confidence and encourage the return of Safe Travels.
The health and safety of travelers and those who work in the sector has always been their number one priority. It has called for the adoption of global health and safety protocols, through its “Safe Travels” initiative, to provide security for travelers and those who work in the sector.

The MICE segment with more certainty
With the news regarding the vaccines that would be available in the medium term, the MICE segment has clung to rescheduling the agreements that had been closed for 2020 and working hard for 2021 onwards. Experts in this niche have remarked that although there will be some conventions this year, they will have a more limited capacity and hybrid formats.
Already next year everything would go back to use, especially from Q2 onwards. Virtual conventions have been a circumstantial solution and perhaps they will leave great advances as technological support for large face-to-face events.
One of the great unknowns beyond health is what funds companies will have to hold conventions. Experts affirm that it is very likely that the events will be smaller and regional in scope in the first half of 2021 and then expand to larger and international events in the second half of the year.