Recently published forecasts have shown that the business travel sector in China is postponing its recovery and return to its pre-pandemic state for several reasons.
The World Business Travel Association notes that “factors including inflation, disruption to the supply chain and a shutdown aimed at combating Covid in China” are “delaying the full recovery of the business travel sector to return to pre-epidemic levels.”
The Global Business Travel Association expects the industry to “recover to 2019 levels of $1.43 trillion in mid-2026, 18 months later than the group’s forecast in November.”
A statement released by the association said the “recovery has been hit by headwinds” and noted that there has been a “gradual improvement from a record low of $661 billion in 2020 to $1.47 trillion in 2026.” .
“Factors affecting many sectors around the world will cloud the recovery of global business travel through 2025,” said Susan Niuwang, CEO of the association.
The group also saw to it that the recovery was “interrupted” in late 2021 and early 2022 as a result of the mutant Omicron outbreak, “but travel increased as Covid infections decreased.”
These forecasts note that the main obstacles to a full recovery are “high energy prices, labor shortages, Covid shutdowns, the regional impact of the war in Ukraine, and sustainability issues.”
Source: AP