The Covid-19 pandemic may have severely restricted global travel over the last six months, but business travellers remain convinced of the need for face-to-face meetings, according to a new survey.
More than three quarters of respondents said that they believe face-to-face meetings for sales and pitching are preferable to remote working, while six out of ten business travellers said that the majority of deals and decisions cannot be made virtually. However the majority (78 per cent) said they would not shake hands in a meeting.
Nearly 40 per cent of respondents expect to start travelling again by the end of 2020.
Last week, the Financial Times reported that investment bankers had begun to suffer from “FOMO” – fear of missing out. As soon as travel becomes available and accepted, your competition will travel, it won’t be so comfortable to stay at home and ask for a Zoom call, because in-person meetings are superior in every way.
