Business travel in India has picked up momentum after a lull of almost two years. Our mid year business travel report reveals that sustained momentum is now visible in business travel with a jumpstart in business activities across all industries since January 2022.
Our report underscores that recovery in business travel is led by the younger generation. 43% of business travellers are in the 20-24 years age bracket, followed by 25-30 years (34.5%) and 31-45 years (18.6%). It is interesting to note that after months of virtual meetings and telephonic conversations, younger business travellers such as college graduates and those who have just joined the workforce or business, such as traders and small enterprises, are more enthusiastic about returning to face-to-face interactions.
Delhi has emerged as the most preferred destination for business travellers, closely followed by Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Within the business travel category, the three biggest constituents are corporate employees at 29%, small business owners at 17.7% and government employees at 12.3%, as per our travel survey.
The top three important parameters for business travellers while booking a stay are safety, hygiene and offers & discounts. Out of the total respondents, 52% have said that safety is their top priority while booking a stay. Hygiene remains a top concern for 48% of the business travellers and 45% travellers book their stay on the basis of offers and discounts available to them.
As per our data from the survey, at 16%, the construction industry is at the forefront of business travel followed by a diverse range of businesses such as transportation, clothing, electronics & IT and healthcare.
Additionally our mid year business travel report data also shows that approximately 29% travellers travel once in a month, 25% travel once in three months and 21% travel once in a week. The data further reveals that 73% travel for 3 days, 19% travel for 3 to 7 days and only 4% travel for more than a week.
Commenting on the survey findings, Shreerang Godbole, Senior Vice President, Product & Chief Service Officer, OYO said “While bleisure, work from anywhere and domestic vacations were the key travel reasons in the initial part of the unlock travel, business travel has revived since the earlier part of this year and the momentum continues to build steadily. Business travel is dependable and has the least seasonal influence as a category. The revival seems to be equally strong lately, be it companies, small and medium businesses or public sector travellers. We expect this segment to continue growing even further in the near future.”
The survey was conducted from 25-30 June, surveying approx 1300 people.