How much has COVID-19 impacted business travel? When, where and how can we expect it to recover? What is now contributing to the travel policy decision-making process? In search of answers to these questions, we surveyed individuals who book extended stay business travel on behalf of their company. The key findings tell an interesting story. The full press release is below. If you have any questions or need additional comment, please reach out.

Furnished Quarters Survey Finds Optimistic Outlook for Business Travel by Q2 2021

(New York, NY) August 19, 2020 – In a survey of professionals who book corporate travel, Furnished Quarters found 69% of respondents see business travel resuming before Q2 2021. Another 28% see it resuming by the end of Q2 2021.

Furnished Quarters is the largest independently owned and operated supplier of global corporate housing, serving more than 5,500 clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses. The company emailed the survey to its database of clients and received 134 responses from individuals in corporate travel management, mobility, administrative, procurement, human resources, project management and traveler roles. Of these respondents, 72% book extended stay travel, 54% book 30+ day travel and 43% handle relocations.

The results showed that business travel and global mobility are largely on hold for the time being. Most respondents said their company’s business trips and relocations are currently on hold for travel within the United States (68%) and between countries outside the United States (64%).

Among mobility respondents in particular, 69% indicated travel and relocations are on hold for EMEA to Americas, 65% for APAC to Americas and 58% for travel within the United States.

Only 10% of all respondents said they’re able to obtain visas for their business travelers or relocations at this time, while 39% said they are not.

“We conducted this survey to better understand where companies stand on resuming extended business trips and employee relocations,” remarked Steve Brown, CEO of Furnished Quarters. “The results prove interesting and are more positive at this point than we expected, considering all of the uncertainty.”

Regarding relocations, 25% expect them to resume in Q1 2021, while 22% said relocations are not currently on hold.

Mobility respondents were a bit more optimistic, with 35% indicating relocations are not currently on hold, and 23% saying they expect them to resume in Q4 2020.

With all the uncertainty around travel, it’s unsurprising that most respondents (81%) said their company is currently evaluating travel on a case-by-case basis. Another 33% said their company is allowing some essential business travel, and just 4% are allowing some non-essential business travel.

One question asked “At what point do you expect business travel to return to normal levels?” The most popular answer, at 32%, was when COVID-19 cases have dropped significantly from current levels. The next most popular answer, at 28%, was after a vaccine is widely distributed. Interestingly, the option of “When states are fully reopened, regardless of COVID-19 cases” was not highly chosen (6%), and 22% said they don’t expect business travel to return to normal.

When asked to rank the importance of procedures or amenities that should be in place for the respondent’s company to use travel accommodations, the most important were 1) sanitization of rooms/apartments with hospital-grade products, 2) daily disinfection of common areas and 3) PPE worn by staff.

“From the survey, we can see that most companies are hopeful they’ll get their employees traveling again by 2021. We’re here to support their efforts at whatever pace works for them,” added Gary Brown, President of Furnished Quarters.

About Furnished Quarters
Furnished Quarters is the largest independently owned and operated supplier of global temporary housing, offering over 100,000 fully furnished apartments in more than 800 cities around the world. The company, established in 1998 in New York City by brothers Steven and Gary Brown, currently serves more than 5,500 clients, ranging from top Fortune 500 corporations to small businesses. To learn more about Furnished Quarters, visit furnishedquarters.com.