German business travelers have had to contend with a variety of disruptions over the past twelve months. This is proven by a survey of 107 business travelers conducted by AirPlus. In total, AirPlus surveyed almost 550 business travelers in nine European countries (Belgium, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland).
It was primarily internal company measures that caused problems for employees in this country. At the forefront: travel policies that require virtual meetings instead of travel and budget cuts. 28 percent of those surveyed said that these had a large or very large negative impact on their trips. When it comes to budget cuts, Germany ranks first in Europe with this value. The reduction in business travel due to corporate social responsibility efforts was complained about by 20 percent of respondents.
But external influences such as strikes and wars or geopolitical conflicts in the target area (mentioned by 20 percent each) also led to impairments.
Personal meetings continue to be important for those surveyed. 92 percent of those surveyed see some kind of disadvantage in replacing business trips with video conferences – Germany achieved the top value in Europe. The lack of personal contact (mentioned by 59 percent), the lack of networking opportunities and data security risks (mentioned by 31 percent each) are seen as the biggest disadvantages here.
When it comes to which business purposes require a personal meeting, those surveyed put trust and relationship building at the top (mentioned by 52 percent), followed by negotiations/persuasion (42 percent) and discussing strictly confidential or sensitive topics (38 percent). .
Source: AirPlus / Image: Pixabay
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