?)
“Over 50% of business travel and over 30% of days in the office will go away.”
Bill Gates
Defining “business travel”
Economics & pandemics
That being said, COVID-19 is the biggest health crisis we’ve experienced in modern history. It’s also not over yet, so it’s difficult for us to make claims on whether it will result in a recession. What we can see is inflation, but if you look at Chart 2 below, it’s clear that the stock market is doing just fine. It’s actually at an all-time high.
?)
Of course, the stock market is a proxy for how the economy goes. It’s not necessarily a direct reflection of the economy at this moment. However, the catalyst for the 2008 financial crisis was the crash of the stock market. So, it’s a pretty good indicator of how the economy will progress.That’s the first reason I believe that business travel will recover. History shows that pandemics don’t affect it— and business travel and economics go hand in hand.
?)
What if the pandemic does cause a recession?
But, we have Zoom now!
Business travel is a competitive advantage in sales
- If your competitors are meeting potential customers face to face and you’re not, guess who’s more likely to get the contract. That’s right, the people they met in person.
- As I already mentioned, the point of business travel is to build relationships. The better your relationship, the better your chances of turning it into a lucrative one.
- Being physically present is also about servicing the customer. The likelihood of your deal closing increases with better customer service. If you’re not traveling to do that, you can bet your competitors are.
?)
?)
?)
?)
?)
?){kind=icon}
?){kind=icon}