It has been one of the segments most affected by the coronavirus crisis
Business tourism has been one of the most affected by the health crisis caused by the coronavirus, doubly affected by travel and event restrictions. However, HotelsDot perceives "a discreet upward trend" in the hand of individual travel. This is reflected in the market study they have carried out aimed at business tourists in Spain, which reveals that 35.7% of those surveyed have some trip scheduled for the near future.
Corporate meetings and customer visits are behind this slight revival, which is driven by commercial reasons. Despite the consolidation of technological tools during the months of confinement, the business tourist mainly prefers events and face-to-face meetings, recognizing their greater effectiveness in meeting their objectives.
Proof of this is that 42.9% of those surveyed recognise that before the health emergency broke out they travelled more than six times a year, the most common reason being individual business tourism, whether it be corporate meetings, client visits or product presentations (61%), followed by training (34.3%) and trade fairs (31.4%).
However, 84.3% of the participants in the survey admit that they have not moved again after the restrictions were lifted in June, although HotelsDot warns that "this data must be analyzed with caution, since traditionally the months of July and August are low season for this segment of demand.
Even so, 10.4% have made at least one trip, while 5.3% admit to having travelled on more than three occasions. In most cases are movements of corporate type, mainly meetings and visits to customers, and with the hotel as preferred accommodation for 82.3% of tourists surveyed, compared to 17.7% who spent the night in apartments.
Online vs. face-to-face events
Finally, the results obtained by HotelsDot, according to the same sources, "allow us to predict a rapid recovery of MICE tourism as soon as the health situation improves in Spain, since, although it is true that online events have been strongly positioned in the work environment, it is also true that the majority of those surveyed believe that face-to-face events are more effective in meeting business objectives".
Credits https://www.hosteltur.com/138586_los-viajes-individuales-clave-en-la-recuperacion-del-turismo-de-negocios.html
