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Travel for business, team at airport and men, catch flight for work trip with conference or training seminar with accountant. Walk, talk and diversity with finance convention and partnership. (iStock - Jacob Wackerhausen)
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FlightCentre’s Corporate Traveller has shared six trends it believes will shape business travel in 2024 with experts predicting exciting changes from mid-next year.
The biggest influence is an increased capacity and greater competition among airlines which is anticipated to lower airfares and further boost business travel.
Tom Walley, Australia-based Global Managing Director of Corporate Traveller, the flagship SME division of FlightCentre Travel Group, says:
“The business travel industry is healthy and is already seeing some critical changes come through,” global MD, Corporate Travel – Flight Centre SME, Tom Walley, said.
Tom Walley. (Supplied)
‘Premium fares have already dropped, and we can expect to see economy fares come down by mid-2024 as flight capacity from international carriers increase.”
“We’re seeing travellers take advantage of being able to combine business and leisure travel. There’s also a real business focus on face-to-face meeting and collaboration, given the evidence that in-person meetings are the most productive way for businesses to operate.
“Overall, 2024 will bring good news for businesses that travel.”
Walley’s six forecasts for 2024:
Business travel remains a high priority despite economic impacts – Lower airfares in 2024 will open options for budget-conscious business flyers. While economic uncertainty poses concerns for any business, Walley said there would be a meeting point in the travel industry with falling travel costs.
Premium international flight seats to drop further – Business class seats to destinations like London and New York have dropped for the first time since the pandemic and prices have varied by up to 60 per cent depending on time of booking and flexibility.
International demand to continue into 2024, but seat capacity will soften prices – All eight Chinese airlines that operated to Sydney pre-pandemic have now returned, with the final carrier, Sichuan Airlines, marking the milestone at the end of October 2023.
Regional business travel will sustain rapid growth – The fast-growing mining industry, including mining for critical minerals used for renewable energy infrastructure, is expected to help drive regional tourism.
Bleisure trips on the rise – As we see a fixation on productivity amidst economic pressures, organisations are looking to meet and gather face-to-face. Employees are taking advantage of increased business travel to extend their trip for joint leisure purposes.
Brisbane to take over Perth as the most popular destination for international business travel as Chinese carriers add capacity – Corporate Traveller’s booking data showed that Perth saw a 34 per cent growth in international business travel, compared with Melbourne and Sydney (each less than 10 per cent growth), Brisbane (25 per cent) and Adelaide (21 per cent).
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