Business travelers cancel trips to avoid travel chaos

Nearly half of business travelers would cancel their trips to avoid current travel chaos despite the increasing use of digital technology which helps to manage disruptions online, a survey by travel tech platform Egencia has found.

The survey of 2,250 business travelers across the United Kingdom, France and the United States revealed that 69% of respondents now expect disruption when they travel. In order to keep away from travel chaos, 46% of business travelers book an early morning flight and 40% of respondents avoid certain airlines or airports.

However, business travelers are becoming keener to use digital apps to deal with travel disruptions. The company’s survey found that 74% of respondents are more likely to use tech tools to manage trips, with 43% listing access to real-time updates as the biggest benefit.

But 49% of respondents said they would still be unwilling to travel if any disruption occurred.

“Business travelers are increasingly concerned about experiencing problems on the road and getting the support they need, Egencia president Mark Hollyhead said.

Hollyhead added: “Whatever the purpose of a trip, if you make the decision to travel it’s an investment in time. We want to be there for our customers and provide the technology and service to manage disruptions as seamlessly as possible.”

This summer has been plagued by travel disruption across the world, especially in Europe, with airlines and airports struggling to cope with the huge return in demand for air travel after the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the past few months, many passengers, including those who travel for business, have been affected by long security queues, flight cancellations, extensive delays, and lost baggage.