KURT MUSCAT
The impact of covid on
corporate travel Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic brought global travel to a standstill, one thing became clear: Corporate travel would face a slower return than leisure travel. Although much remains to be seen, these predictions have largely materialised and corporate travel faces a slower return, thanks to a more complex set of considerations. Conferences and trade shows, which account for a significant volume of business trips, remain mostly virtual. These conditions are temporary though. Conferences and other industry events have begun their comeback, in live and hybrid formats, which will accelerate in the latter part of 2021. Around the world most workers returned to offices this summer, and more will do so in the last part of 2021. The eventual scale and shape of these factors of corporate life are unclear, but they are returning, and an increase in corporate travel will follow.
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Despite the relative success many companies experienced through a year of essential-only travel, business leaders realize the value of face-to-face interaction. And similar to the return to officebased work, business travellers fall on all points of a spectrum: from eager to return to airports, hotels, and conference rooms, to those who are convinced they can do their work effectively with significantly less travel. The reality falls somewhere in between. Competition and growth will necessitate a resumption of business travel. But travel use cases have been revaluated based on their impact on the bottom line and the environment, as well as how well they can be replaced by now widely adopted tech platforms. So, how will all this impact the Maltese economy? According to the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), 6.9% of individuals who visited the Maltese islands in 2019, did so for business purposes. This means that
out of the 2.7 million tourists, approximately 186,300 tourists visited Malta for business purposes. Collectively, directly and indirectly, these 2.7 million tourists generated just over €1 billion in Gross Value Added for the Maltese economy (GVA). Therefore, GVA generated by business travel amounted to around €70 million in 2019. To conclude, in Malta like the rest of the world, corporate travel will face a slower return than leisure travel as many will resort to tech platforms or hybrid models as a substitute of business-related trips in the near future. Moreover, businessrelated trips were never the main drivers for tourism in Malta hence the impact of a subdued recovery in this sector will not hurt the economy so much. Nonetheless, the GVA generated by business-related trips is significant and hence attempts to try and recuperate this sector in Malta should be worthwhile.