News outlets across the country are reporting a positive trend: Business travel is increasing.
According to the U.S. Travel Association, domestic business travel is growing and volume is expected to reach 81% of pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and 96% in 2023.
It’s a welcome sign for a travel sector that was hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employees should appreciate the trend too. A survey earlier this year by APCO Insight, found that 81% of professionals who attended in-person meetings and conventions before the pandemic miss doing so and would be just as likely – if not more likely – to attend in-person conferences, conventions, trade shows and other business events in the future.
“It’s that interpersonal relationship, and you don’t get that human contact through a computer screen,” said one business traveler to NBC News for a report on the uptick in business travel in May.
According to surveys, in-person meetings and conferences are at the top of company priorities related to business travel spending. In the June 2022 Business Travel Recovery Poll conducted by the Global Business Travel Association, 31% of stakeholders said they would invest resources on customer and prospect meetings. Another 21% of respondents said they would focus on conferences, trade shows and industry events.
Richmond Region Tourism has been busy and excited to welcome meetings and conventions back to the region like the Council of Engineering & Scientific Executives’ ACCESSE22 Leadership Conference and the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Women in Nuclear Conference next month.
If you’re interested in hosting a meeting in the Richmond region, contact sales@visitrichmondva.com.
