U.S. Travel's New Forecast Shows Long Road to Recovery for Business Travel

According to the U.S. Travel Association and Tourism Economics, lingering Covid-19 restrictions and a patchwork approach to reopening across the country could prevent the economically crucial business travel segment from recovering until at least 2024. 

U.S. Travel noted that by far the travel industry was the hardest hit by the ongoing fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. Spending on trips to large, in-person professional meetings and events in the U.S. declined by 76 percent last year — a $97 billion loss.

With vaccinations rising, infection rates declining, restrictions being lifted and traveler confidence rebounding, domestic leisure travel is projected to reach 99 percent of its prepandemic peak in 2022 and to grow steadily thereafter. But with the absence of clear and consistent guidance from federal health authorities on professional meetings and events, U.S. Travel officials noted that business-related travel is not expected to recover to its prepandemic volume for an additional two years — a point reiterated by Chris Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton, during a press conference today. 

Only about a third of U.S. businesses (35 percent) are currently engaging in any business-related travel, according to a new report from Tourism Economics. The study also noted that 65 percent of all U.S. jobs lost in 2020 were supported by travel, and they cannot fully recover without a swift return of all industry segments, particularly in-person professional gatherings.

Bolstering U.S. Travel's push for business events to return is a new white paper released today by health-care scientists at Ohio State University. Focused on a scientific review of proven health and safety measures substantiated over the last year, the authors say it is safe to return to conducting and attending business events.

"The Scientific-Based Evidence for Conducting Safe and Healthy Professional Meetings and Events" gathered information from a number of sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Journal of the American Medical Association Network, to outline the best practices to ensure a safe return to large-scale, in-person meetings. The paper also differentiates business gatherings from other large community events, noting that business meetings offer a controlled environment that allows hosts to use scientifically proven safety measures to allow individuals to attend.

"Getting back to our prepandemic ways of doing business must include evidence-based tactics we learned during the pandemic to keep people safe and healthy," said study coauthor Bernadette Melnyk, Ph.D., vice president for health promotion, Ohio State's chief wellness officer and dean of its College of Nursing. "We must continue to follow the best evolving science as we make plans to hold in-person events again."

When asked during the press conference about U.S. Travel's stance on the use of vaccination passports for travel, Roger Dow, the organization's president and CEO, said such documentation is just one way, along with a negative Covid test and proof that a person has recovered from the coronavirus, to prove that it is safe for an individual to travel and attend an event. "You need to have a multifaceted approach," said Dow. "It's up to meeting planners themselves to set the criteria."

To support the return of professional meetings and events, a coalition of travel industry businesses and organizations is launching an initiative under the U.S. Travel Association umbrella called "Let’s Meet There." Details about the initiative, which will promote the full and safe reopening of the business travel sector, will be released June 16th.