Corporate suspensions or cancellations, especially of international business travel in the past two weeks, have increased sharply due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a Global Business Travel Association membership survey released Tuesday.?
About 41 per cent of respondent companies have cancelled or suspended all international travel due to concerns over Covid-19, according to the survey, which was fielded 4-6 March. GBTA's survey includes 1,095 member companies throughout the world; 46 per cent of respondents were travel managers, 6 per cent procurement or sourcing professionals, 32 per cent suppliers, 10 per cent travel management companies and 7 per cent other categories.
Only 7 per cent of respondent companies had reported international travel cancellations in a 24 February GBTA survey. About 13 per cent of respondent companies in March reported cancelling or suspending all domestic travel, compared with 2 per cent in the prior survey.
International & Domestic Travel Suspensions?
Source: GBTA Member Surveys fielded 24 February & 4-6 March 2020
"Coronavirus is significantly impacting the business travel industry's bottom line," GBTA COO and executive director Scott Solombrino said in a statement. "As the virus continues to spread across the world, business travel is slowing at an alarming rate. The impact to the business travel industry¡ªand to the broader economy¡ªcannot be underestimated."?
Across all global regions, respondent companies have cancelled an average of 43 per cent of business trips previously booked for March due to the outbreak. About 73 per cent of respondent companies reported cancelling at least a "few" meetings, events, or conferences, with 30 per cent cancelling "many" such events.
The effect of the international business travel restrictions is most keenly felt on trips to China, which 95 per cent of respondent companies have banned, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan, travel to which has been banned by 87 per cent and 79 per cent, respectively. About three-quarters of respondent companies have done likewise on business travel elsewhere in Asia.?
China & Other Asia-Pacific Travel Suspensions
Source: GBTA Member Surveys fielded 24 February & 4-6 March 2020
Cancellations and suspensions of business travel to regions other than Asia have also jumped. About 51 per cent of respondent companies reported suspensions or cancellations of all or most business travel to Europe, 8 per cent more than in February.
Travel Suspension in Other Global Regions
Source: GBTA Member Surveys fielded 24 February & 4-6 March 2020
About 55 per cent of respondent companies reported new trip-approval procedures, up from 43 per cent in the prior survey, and 62 per cent have modified their travel safety and security policies, up from 51 per cent.
Suppliers also are feeling the pinch. Fifty-nine per cent of supplier respondents reported that the coronavirus outbreak has made a "significant" impact on their company's revenue, and another 27 per cent reported a "moderate" impact to date.