Business travel on ATM agenda
T
WORDS GEMMA GREENWOOD
The industry’s future will be debated live in Dubai at Arabian Travel Market
M AY 2 0 2 2
he future of the business travel sector will be one of the hotly debated topics at this month’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM), the international travel and tourism event now in its 29th year. Factors to consider when building a sustainable business travel programme will also be discussed by industry professionals from hotels, airlines, travel management companies, and global research firms, as part of the show’s conference programme. ATM takes place live at the Dubai world Trade Centre (DWTC) from May 9-12, with the business travel sessions, which are being organised by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), taking place on Wednesday May 11. They will be led by Catherine Logan, Regional Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at GBTA, who will kick-start ‘The Future of Business Travel’ session by revealing top trends and statistics from the 2021 BTI Outlook Annual Global Report & Forecast – Prospects for Global Business Travel 2021 – 2025, released
in November 2021 and representing a study of business travel spending and growth covering 73 countries across 44 industries and now in its 13th edition. Topline findings reveal global business travel activity has started its rebound from the sharp downturn brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. After declining 53.8 per cent in 2020 to $661 billion, the report predicts a 14 per cent rebound in 2021 to $754 billion and a 37.6 per cent hike in 2022 to $1,038. Full recovery is predicted in 2024 with spend predicted to reach $1,482 billion compared to $1,431 billion in 2019. The report also notes how business travel recovery has been “extremely divergent”, depending on multiple regional and destination-specific factors. In the Middle East and Africa (MEA), business travel markets picked up by between 15 and 20 per cent in 2021. Predictions by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) are even more upbeat, with an anticipated 49 per cent increase in business travel expenditure in the Middle East in 2021 and a 32 per cent hike expected in 2022. Interestingly, the increase in business spending for the full year is expected to have outpaced spending on leisure travel by 13 per cent, 10 per cent and 1 per cent in the Middle East, Europe and Africa respectively. Joining Logan on ‘The Future of Business Travel’ session are Sam Dawson, Commercial Director, MENA, YouGov, who will zoom in on regional trends, as well as Matt Roberts, Vice President Sales, Turkey, India, Middle East, Accor; Shaun Anderson, head of sales, dnata Travel Management; and Matt Raos, Senior Vice President Global Sales, Qatar Airways. The panellists will discuss what business travel might look like in a post-pandemic world.
