SINGAPORE, 6 May 2021: FCM, a global travel management company, expects a rebound in its corporate travel business by year-end as activity increases.
The business, which operates in more than 95 countries, believes sales will continue to increase globally and is targeting 50% of pre-Covid-19 levels by the end of the year.
With vaccination programmes well underway in key markets and gaining momentum globally, and as consumer confidence increases, the corporate business’s profitability remains on track to return late in 2021, as stated in the company earlier forecasts.
At the end of April, Flight Centre Travel Group’s corporate business was trading at 29% of prior-year levels globally but had developed a strong organic growth profile, fuelled by a combination of high customer retention rates and record new account wins during the pandemic, including high-profile accounts, such as Procter & Gamble and Atos.
FCM Global managing director Marcus Eklund said: “Based on early signs that vaccines are effective in preventing symptomatic infection, and with healthy vaccine rollout rates in key markets such as Australia, New Zealand, the US and UK, we expect health risks to reduce.
If new strains are kept in check, the company believes it will lead to an easing of government-imposed restrictions on domestic and international travel and a partial rebound of the global business travel market by year-end. Travel could increase by 20 to 30% when restrictions relax. But optimism is based on vaccinations working against new variants of Covid-19.
Global research has revealed the emergence of a new hybrid working model, with more than half of all employees expected to work from home several days a month.
As a result, Eklund expects some pre-pandemic travel activity will shift to virtual working models, leading to further consolidation in the corporate travel industry, as organisations increasingly seek travel management providers that are secure and demonstrate a strong duty of care.
