The survey, conducted by Ipsos Mori, reveals that almost half (44%) of firms had replaced all trips, 41% half or more and 8% less than half. Just one in 14 – 7% of businesses replaced none. Half of businesses (50%) considered fully virtual meetings to be an adequate replacement for business trips; more than one-in-four (28%), however, did not. A slightly higher proportion (57%) agreed that meetings with a combination of virtual and face-to-face attendees were an adequate substitute for business trips. One-in-five (20%) disagreed.
The DfT survey suggests that proportion of employees travelling on business is expected to stay broadly the same post pandemic.
Companies expect an average of 38% of employees to be travelling for business, compared with 40% before the pandemic. Just 1% of the firms surveyed by Ipsos Mori said no employees will travel for face-to-face meetings.
The DfT data, however, suggests that the frequency of face-to-face meetings is expected to fall as virtual meetings will remain in the mix.
Two-fifths (41%) of companies said that they expect to make fewer business trips than before the pandemic (27% somewhat less, 14% far less) and more than a quarter (27%) expect to make more business trips (19% somewhat more, 8% far more).
Almost a third (30%) said they expected to make the same level of business trips.
Assuming restrictions are no longer in place, companies expect to be using a similar mix of main modes as before the pandemic, with a return to long-distance rail and domestic air travel, and a reduction in the proportion of car journeys compared to levels during the pandemic.
Companies said that they expect an average of 33% of trips to use car as their main mode of transport, compared with 29% pre-pandemic.
Meanwhile, 13% would choose to use long-distance rail as their main mode versus 15% pre-pandemic, and 11% would use domestic airlines compared with 14% before Covid-19 struck.
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