Future of Business Travel Unclear as Coronavirus Changes Work Life

 

Brian Contreras represents the worst fears of the profitable¹ business travel industry.

Contreras is an account executive² at an American technology company. He is used to traveling often for work. But now, he and thousands of others are working from home and calling into video meetings instead of getting on planes.

Contreras manages his North American accounts from Sacramento, California. He does not expect to travel for work again until the middle of 2021. Even then, he is not sure how much he will need to.

"Maybe it's just the acceptance of the new normal. I have all of the resources necessary to be on the calls, all of the communicative devices to make sure I can do my job," he said.

That situation could mean big trouble for hotels, airlines, meeting centers and other industries that depend so heavily on business travelers like Contreras.

Work travel represented 21 percent of the $8.9 trillion spent on worldwide travel and tourism in 2019. That information comes from the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Delta³ Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian recently suggested business travel might settle into a "new normal" that is 10 to 20 percent lower than it used to be.

He told The Associated Press, "I do think corporate⁴ travel is going to come back faster than people suspect. I just don't know if it will come back to the full volume." Right now, Delta's business travel income is down 85 percent.

Mazen Hayek is the spokesman⁵ for MBC Group in Dubai. The media organization operates 18 television stations. Hayek says it is unlikely employees will travel as often once the coronavirus crisis⁶ ends because they have proven they do not need to.

MBC has reduced trips by more than 85 percent, Hayek said.

American technology company Amazon told its employees to stop traveling in March. It says the move has saved nearly $1 billion in travel costs so far this year. Amazon is the second-largest employer in the U.S., with more than 1.1 million employees.

Gary Kelly is the CEO at Southwest Airlines. He said money from business travel -- which normally makes up more than one-third of Southwest's business -- is down 90 percent.

"I think that's going to continue for a long time. I'm very confident it will recover and pass 2019 levels, I just don't know when," Kelly told the AP.

Peter Belobaba teaches airline management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He said business travel is down partly because some people are afraid to fly.

But he adds that companies also fear being held responsible if employees are infected with COVID-19 while traveling for work. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. Those who want to travel may also be limited by travel restrictions⁷, Belobaba added.

Last month, the CEO of electric car company Polestar, Thomas Ingenlath, had to observe a 14-day quarantine in China. He had flown in from Sweden for the Beijing Auto⁸ Show.

The decrease in travel has been very good for teleconferencing services. Zoom⁹ said 370,200 businesses with at least 10 employees had signed up for its service by the end of July. That is more than three times the number it had at the end of April.

But for some workers, teleconferencing cannot replace being there in person.

Rebecca Lindland is an automotive adviser¹⁰ and founder¹¹ of Rebecca Drives. She used to travel 38 weeks each year for test drives and auto shows. This year, she did not fly from March until September. Test drives have been cut back to regional events, so attendees do not have to travel as far.

Lindland says she is confident she can return to air travel safely. She wears a face covering, and says that even before the pandemic she always carried disinfectant products.

Sam Clarke is an assistant professor in the college of business at California State University San Marcos. He agrees that some in-person events — like trade shows — will still be important in the future. But he thinks new kinds of business travel could also develop.

Clarke also expects some companies to change their travel policies. For example, he said companies could decide to let most employees work from home and then fly them all back to headquarters once a year.

Words in This Story

confident – adj. certain that something will happen or that something is true

disinfectant – adj. a chemical substance that is used to kill harmful germs and bacteria; a substance that disinfects something

quarantine – n. the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading

regional – adj. of, relating to, or characteristic of a certain geographic¹² area

teleconferencing – n. the use of telephones and video equipment to have a meeting with people who are in different places

tourism – n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure

volume – n. an amount of something

1 profitable   

adj.有益的，能带来利益的，有利可图的

参考例句：

• That business became profitable last year.那项生意去年变得很赚钱。
• The convention business is very profitable for the hotel industry.承办会议业务能给旅馆业带来很高的利润。

2 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

3 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

4 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

5 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。

6 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

9 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

10 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

11 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

12 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法