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* Lufthansa sees business demand rise within Europe
* U.S. spending seen at 65-80% pre-pandemic level by Q4 2022
* Firms consider cost, environment and employee wellbeing
* Client meetings seen as most essential in person
By Emma Thomasson and Silvia Aloisi
BERLIN/MILAN, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Sylvia Burbery is delighted
that she no longer spends most of her life travelling for work.
"I am grateful that the pandemic has forced us to step back
and look at ways of working we took for granted," said the
regional president for emerging markets at Mars petcare brand
Royal Canin.
"I am very happy not to go back to spending 80% of my time
travelling. I am not even sure it will be 50%," Burbery said
from her home office in Paris.
Burbery's sentiments are echoed by workers around the world
who are tired of the grind of corporate travel. This is bad news
for the airlines, hotels and conference centres that rely on
this lucrative business.
Mars, the family-owned snack and pet food company, said
cost, environmental and health considerations were behind its
decision to keep travel to less than half pre-pandemic levels,
meaning 145,000 fewer flights per year.
Nici Bush, Mars global vice president for workplace
transformation, said reducing travel could also make senior jobs
more attractive to people with families.
She said 700 staff members could attend online strategy or
sales events compared with the 100 people who used to meet in
person: "You can really be more surgical about when you travel."
Niklas Andreen, the chief operating officer of global
corporate travel management firm CWT, knows the prospects are
slim for a quick bounce back to pre-pandemic levels for the
business travel sector.
While 58% of people polled by CWT say they are keen to
resume expenses-paid junkets, bookings are only gradually
recovering, with 80% of travel domestic now, compared with 67%
pre-pandemic in 2019.
"It's going to take several years before we're back,"
Andreen said.
In one of the first tests of the appetite of the business
community for global gatherings, Germany's auto show in Munich
this week has seen many major car companies like Toyota
and Jaguar's Land Rover choosing to stay away.
German airline Lufthansa has nevertheless seen
demand for its regional flights between Germany, Austria,
Switzerland and Belgium jump 15% in recent weeks, and rise 30%
for flights within Germany, Chief Executive Carsten Spohr said.
Lufthansa is putting on more flights for business travellers
in September, but it only expects a return to 90% of
pre-pandemic trips in the long term.
COUNTING THE COST
Pre-pandemic, airlines made the bulk of their profits from
business travel because companies are more likely to book at
short notice and are prepared to pay more for convenient times.
U.S. spending on corporate travel is expected to only reach
25%–35% of 2019 levels by the fourth quarter of 2021, and
65%–80% a year later, according to a Deloitte survey of 150
travel managers.
"As companies look forward, they are thinking about how to
keep some of the cost savings they have realised," said Anthony
Jackson, head of Deloitte's U.S. aviation practice.
Italian fashion group Prada's chief executive
Patrizio Bertelli said he thinks business travel would be
"reduced to a minimum".
"This is certainly a big advantage for margins," he said
earlier this year.
GREENER TRAVEL
Companies are also looking for ways to reduce their carbon
footprint: about half the respondents in the Deloitte survey
said they plan to adjust their business travel policy to
decrease their environmental impact within the next year.
"I used to fly from Dallas to New York for the day for an
internal meeting with three or four people. I don't see that
coming back very quickly," Jackson said.
As part of climate measures Zurich Insurance Group
unveiled this week, it said it would cut air travel compared to
its pre-pandemic level by 70% as of 2022.
The consulting arm of CWT is helping companies design travel
policies that balance cost with environmental impact, for
example proposing the lowest cost direct flight rather than a
cheaper indirect flight with higher carbon emissions.
CLIENT CARE
However, CWT's Andreen said it was still important for some
managers to get staff, and clients, together again.
"It's hard to close a deal without looking each other in the
eye," he said.
And Burbery said some face-to-face meetings remain better
for brainstorming and resolving tensions between staff: "When
you are virtual, you only see what people want you to see."
Meeting clients is seen as the top reason though to resume
travel, according to the Deloitte survey, while internal
meetings and training are more likely to stay online.
Filippo Baldazzi, CEO of silk manufacturer Serica 1870 which
works with Brunello Cucinelli, Kering and LVMH, sends samples of
fabrics to customers he can't visit in person.
"I hate video calls and clients like Vuitton and Gucci want
to be pampered, they expect a white gloves type of treatment,"
he said.
(Additional reporting by Ilona Wissenbach in Frankfurt, Michael
Shields in Zurich, Claudia Cristoferi in Milan; Editing by
Elaine Hardcastle)
