AHLA Survey: Most U.S. Corp. Travelers Returning to Normalcy

Most American business travelers have reported a return to pre-pandemic “normalcy” around their work travel expectations, according to a new American Hotel & Lodging Association survey.

Nearly 70 percent of business travelers said their employers have either returned to the pre-pandemic normal or increased business travel, according to the AHLA’s Hotel Booking Index survey. The survey, conducted with Morning Consult, was fielded Dec. 16-19, 2022, and Dec. 28, 2022-Jan. 2, 2023, from more than 1,000 business travelers among 4,000 U.S. adults. 

Additionally, 20 percent of business travelers surveyed expect to take more business trips in 2023 than they did in before the pandemic, while 52 percent said the number of trips expected would remain the same. About 53 percent projected the average length of business travel taken would remain the same in 2023, and 20 percent forecast it to increase. 

As for travel budgets, 18 percent of business travelers expect them to increase in 2023 from pre-pandemic levels, while 52 percent project they would stay the same.  

Additionally, 45 percent of business travelers expect to take more business trips in 2023 than in 2022, according to the report. And 76 percent indicated they would stay in a hotel in the next three months for work travel.  

AHLA president and CEO Chip Rogers in a statement said, “With Americans planning for more hotel stays this year and business travel moving in the right direction, AHLA’s Hotel Booking Index is a cause for optimism among hoteliers.”  

As for the bleisure travel trend, the report showed 48 percent of business travelers have extended a business trip in the last year for leisure purposes, and 84 percent of business travelers are interested in bleisure trips.