Karel Harris, the managing director of Sarnia Hotels, said in March that there was less business travel because video calling had led to more businesses meeting online instead of in person after the pandemic.
“Whether that will ever go back to pre-Covid levels, I’m not sure,” she said.
But Tim Parkes, CEO of the investment firm RAW Capital Partners, said his company uses business travel each week, with employees based in the UK too.
He said meeting face-to-face, “particularly when you’re managing people or building new relationships, is still the premier way to do business”.
“It’s really hard to develop new business relationships over video call alone,” he added.
However, he said that the cost of travel can still be a barrier, with a day’s travel to London often costing the firm £300-£400.
“I think business travel will always be needed to develop those new relationships [but] you can’t justify it so easily if the costs keep going up,” he said.
