The latest Business Travel Tracker finds American companies increasingly paring back pandemic-era restrictions on business travel amid developing storm clouds in the form of persistently high inflation and a looming recession—pointing to the need for immediate government intervention to sustain a positive rate of growth. Many companies slashed their business travel budgets during the pandemic, but less than half of companies (42%) still have policies in place restricting business travel—down from 50% in Q2. Businesses have shown a willingness to get back on the road, with 78% of business travelers expecting to take at least one trip to attend conferences, conventions or trade shows, and 75% expecting to visit customers, suppliers or other stakeholders in the next six months. In addition to the Business Travel Index, two separate surveys of corporate executives and business travelers form the Quarterly Business Travel Tracker, a product of the U.S. Travel Association, J.D. Power and Tourism Economics. Headwinds on the horizon The U.S. Travel Association’s forecast projects that business travel’s growth cannot be sustained in the long term, leading to a decline in the coming quarters. The new survey data arrives as economists in the U.S. and around the world sound the alarm about worsening economic conditions. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Monday cautioned that “very, very serious” headwinds—including inflation, rising interest rates and the ongoing war in Ukraine—were likely to tip the U.S. into a recession in the next six to nine months. With many economists and business leaders anticipating a mild recession in 2023, companies may look for ways to limit investment and travel spending, delaying a full recovery in business travel activity—as reflected in the forward-looking Business Travel Index. Federal policies to spur business travel demand In the face of this slowdown, certain federal policies can help offset these headwinds and spur the recovery of business travel. The U.S. Travel Association is calling on Congress to support temporary tax provisions that would encourage companies to restore business travel spending, particularly with regard to spending that supports workers in the food service and entertainment sectors. Further, the U.S. Department of State should take steps to greatly reduce visitor visa interview wait times to facilitate more international business travel—which have crept to over 440 days on average from top source markets—particularly as the strength of the U.S. dollar is posing a hurdle to attracting international meetings and events. “Business travel is coming back slowly, and these policies will be essential to keeping employees on the road and helping still-recovering companies weather an oncoming recession,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman.

Australia is kicking off a New Tourism campaign to encourage Singaporeans to explore Australia

With quarantine-free travel for fully vaccinated citizens from Singapore to Australia commencing from 21 November, Tourism Australia is kicking off a new campaign to encourage Singaporeans to explore Australia.

The ‘Yours to Explore’ campaign will remind Singaporeans of all the incredible experiences and destinations that await them in Australia for their next holiday.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said Singaporeans who take advantage of the new quarantine-free travel arrangements from 21 November will be amongst some of the first international travellers able to holiday in Australia once again.

“As one of our largest inbound markets, we have long held strong tourism ties with Singapore, so we are really excited to be welcoming our friends from Singapore back to Australia,” Ms Harrison said.

“We are inviting Singaporeans to take the opportunity to relax, reconnect with loved ones, and discover – or perhaps rediscover – some of the lesser-known parts of Australia that make us such an incredible holiday destination.

“Quarantine-free travel between our two countries is also an important step in rebuilding international tourism to Australia, and also provides a framework for the resumption of inbound travel from other key international markets in time.”

The new $4 million ‘Yours to Explore’ campaign will start rolling out in Singapore from 19 November and is scheduled to run until June 2022 across TV, out-of-home, cinema, online, print, radio and social media, and will be supported by a range of PR and partner activities.

All marketing activity will be amplified via partnerships with airlines, State and Territory Tourism Organisations and key distribution partners in the Singapore market.

Tourism Australia is working with a range of key distribution partners to maximise opportunities to drive bookings and recovery for Australia’s hard-hit tourism economy. Partners include Chan Brothers, UOB Travel, Dynasty Travel and CheapTickets.sg who will provide tactical offers aimed at stimulating travel to Australia from Singapore. Tourism Australia is also partnering with Klook.com to offer Singaporeans a range of amazing travel experiences they can book before or during their trip in Australia.

Tourism Australia is also partnering with Singapore Airlines and Qantas to support the recovery of the airline industry and recommence services into Australia in the coming months.

MARKET PROFILE

Singapore is Australia’s sixth-largest source market for international visitation and seventh-most valuable for spending.

Of the 10.7 million Singaporeans who travelled internationally during 2019, 479,000 travelled to Australia, making up 5 per cent of all international arrivals to Australia.

82% per cent of Singapore leisure travellers are repeat visitors to Australia, with 72% having visited the country more than twice. This familiarity with Australia is a huge strength, and an opportunity to encourage Singaporean travellers to explore new and less familiar Australian destinations.

Total expenditure by Singapore travellers equated to $1.53 billion in 2019, of which $837 million was spent by leisure travellers alone. On average they spend $2,624 per trip and $269 per night, the second-highest market after the US.

Singapore travellers spend on average 8 nights holidaying in Australia of which 44% are spent in regional areas. (International Visitor Survey YE Dec 2019).

40% of visitors from Singapore in 2019 visited two or more cities or regions in Australia. Victoria was the most visited state followed by WA, NSW, QLD (International Visitor Survey YE Dec 2019)

*Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics; and Tourism Research Australia, International Visitor Survey year-end December 2019.