Changing Dynamics Of Corporate Travel In India

While travel and tourism is one of the largest and growing service sectors in our country, the economic uptick marks the escalation of corporate travel the most. When it comes to Business travel involving domestic or international trips by employees or organisations, India has emerged as the third largest Business Travel Market in APAC after China and Japan. Driven by the amalgamation of various factors such as globalization of organizations, rising income levels, policy and regulatory support by the government authorities, etc. business travel has emerged as one of India’s fastest growing industries. A better outlook for global economy coupled with fast-changing innovative technologies, the rise of the sharing economy and the growing importance of millennials in business travel are driving the growth of corporate travel globally, including India.
India is the world’s tenth largest business travel market and is likely to clock the fastest growth in this segment in the next five years. Business travel spending is expected to treble until 2030 from $30 billion in 2015, a report by consultancy KPMG and FCM Travel Solutions which attributed the growth to ‘political, economic and demographic factors’ said.
As corporate travel continues to grow rapidly, the online survey sheds light on the evolving preferences and behaviours of modern business travellers in India. The survey highlights how business travellers in India make the most of the travel time and appreciate on-the-road perks. It puts forth that 91% view business travel as a time to re-energise both professionally and personally, and 90% of Indian business travellers feel motivated to get more work done when travelling for business – indicating that perhaps hotels should make it a priority to ensure provision of facilities that uplift their professional as well as personal experiences.
The motivation of India’s workforce towards their career is reflected in the fact that 72% of Indian business travellers feel pressured to work longer hours when travelling for business, and 90% feel motivated to get more work done when travelling for business. 90% of Indian business travellers say business travel has taught them skills they can use to solve challenges in their personal life. When planning personal travel, 76% of Indian business travellers make use of shortcuts learned while on business travel when planning their personal vacations. In addition to these benefits, 95% say business travel helps them to communicate successfully with different types of people.
According to American Express Global Business Travel Forecast for 2018, India’s burgeoning middle class and solid economic growth will cause the demand for travel to surge throughout the year. This is consistent with the latest report from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) which revealed India’s annual growth in business travel spend is at 11.4 per cent, the largest rise among the top 15 business travel markets globally. With passing time, corporate’s focus on safe and smooth travel for their executives, increasing demand from corporate travellers and consistent change in travel technology amongst others has further pushed this segment to become more evolved.