Future of Business Travel Unclear as Coronavirus Changes Work Life
2020-11-15
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Brian Contreras represents the worst fears of the profitable business travel industry.
2Contreras is an account executive at an American technology company.
3He is used to traveling often for work.
4But now, he and thousands of others are working from home and calling into video meetings instead of getting on planes.
5Contreras manages his North American accounts from Sacramento, California.
6He does not expect to travel for work again until the middle of 2021.
7Even then, he is not sure how much he will need to.
8"Maybe it's just the acceptance of the new normal. I have all of the resources necessary to be on the calls, all of the communicative devices to make sure I can do my job," he said.
9That situation could mean big trouble for hotels, airlines, meeting centers and other industries that depend so heavily on business travelers like Contreras.
10Work travel represented 21 percent of the $8.9 trillion spent on worldwide travel and tourism in 2019.
11That information comes from the World Travel and Tourism Council.
12Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian recently suggested business travel might settle into a "new normal" that is 10 to 20 percent lower than it used to be.
13He told The Associated Press, "I do think corporate travel is going to come back faster than people suspect. I just don't know if it will come back to the full volume."
14Right now, Delta's business travel income is down 85 percent.
15Mazen Hayek is the spokesman for MBC Group in Dubai.
16The media organization operates 18 television stations.
17Hayek says it is unlikely employees will travel as often once the coronavirus crisis ends because they have proven they do not need to.
18MBC has reduced trips by more than 85 percent, Hayek said.
19American technology company Amazon told its employees to stop traveling in March.
20It says the move has saved nearly $1 billion in travel costs so far this year.
21Amazon is the second-largest employer in the U.S., with more than 1.1 million employees.
22Gary Kelly is the CEO at Southwest Airlines.
23He said money from business travel -- which normally makes up more than one-third of Southwest's business -- is down 90 percent.
24"I think that's going to continue for a long time. I'm very confident it will recover and pass 2019 levels, I just don't know when," Kelly told the AP.
25Peter Belobaba teaches airline management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
26He said business travel is down partly because some people are afraid to fly.
27But he adds that companies also fear being held responsible if employees are infected with COVID-19 while traveling for work.
28COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.
29Those who want to travel may also be limited by travel restrictions, Belobaba added.
30Last month, the CEO of electric car company Polestar, Thomas Ingenlath, had to observe a 14-day quarantine in China.
31He had flown in from Sweden for the Beijing Auto Show.
32The decrease in travel has been very good for teleconferencing services.
33Zoom said 370,200 businesses with at least 10 employees had signed up for its service by the end of July.
34That is more than three times the number it had at the end of April.
35But for some workers, teleconferencing cannot replace being there in person.
36Rebecca Lindland is an automotive adviser and founder of Rebecca Drives.
37She used to travel 38 weeks each year for test drives and auto shows.
38This year, she did not fly from March until September.
39Test drives have been cut back to regional events, so attendees do not have to travel as far.
40Lindland says she is confident she can return to air travel safely.
41She wears a face covering, and says that even before the pandemic she always carried disinfectant products.
42Sam Clarke is an assistant professor in the college of business at California State University San Marcos.
43He agrees that some in-person events - like trade shows - will still be important in the future.
44But he thinks new kinds of business travel could also develop.
45Clarke also expects some companies to change their travel policies.
46For example, he said companies could decide to let most employees work from home and then fly them all back to headquarters once a year.
47I'm Jonathan Evans.
1Brian Contreras represents the worst fears of the profitable business travel industry. 2Contreras is an account executive at an American technology company. He is used to traveling often for work. But now, he and thousands of others are working from home and calling into video meetings instead of getting on planes. 3Contreras manages his North American accounts from Sacramento, California. He does not expect to travel for work again until the middle of 2021. Even then, he is not sure how much he will need to. 4"Maybe it's just the acceptance of the new normal. I have all of the resources necessary to be on the calls, all of the communicative devices to make sure I can do my job," he said. 5That situation could mean big trouble for hotels, airlines, meeting centers and other industries that depend so heavily on business travelers like Contreras. 6Work travel represented 21 percent of the $8.9 trillion spent on worldwide travel and tourism in 2019. That information comes from the World Travel and Tourism Council. 7Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian recently suggested business travel might settle into a "new normal" that is 10 to 20 percent lower than it used to be. 8He told The Associated Press, "I do think corporate travel is going to come back faster than people suspect. I just don't know if it will come back to the full volume." Right now, Delta's business travel income is down 85 percent. 9Mazen Hayek is the spokesman for MBC Group in Dubai. The media organization operates 18 television stations. Hayek says it is unlikely employees will travel as often once the coronavirus crisis ends because they have proven they do not need to. 10MBC has reduced trips by more than 85 percent, Hayek said. 11American technology company Amazon told its employees to stop traveling in March. It says the move has saved nearly $1 billion in travel costs so far this year. Amazon is the second-largest employer in the U.S., with more than 1.1 million employees. 12Gary Kelly is the CEO at Southwest Airlines. He said money from business travel -- which normally makes up more than one-third of Southwest's business -- is down 90 percent. 13"I think that's going to continue for a long time. I'm very confident it will recover and pass 2019 levels, I just don't know when," Kelly told the AP. 14Peter Belobaba teaches airline management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He said business travel is down partly because some people are afraid to fly. 15But he adds that companies also fear being held responsible if employees are infected with COVID-19 while traveling for work. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. Those who want to travel may also be limited by travel restrictions, Belobaba added. 16Last month, the CEO of electric car company Polestar, Thomas Ingenlath, had to observe a 14-day quarantine in China. He had flown in from Sweden for the Beijing Auto Show. 17The decrease in travel has been very good for teleconferencing services. Zoom said 370,200 businesses with at least 10 employees had signed up for its service by the end of July. That is more than three times the number it had at the end of April. 18But for some workers, teleconferencing cannot replace being there in person. 19Rebecca Lindland is an automotive adviser and founder of Rebecca Drives. She used to travel 38 weeks each year for test drives and auto shows. This year, she did not fly from March until September. Test drives have been cut back to regional events, so attendees do not have to travel as far. 20Lindland says she is confident she can return to air travel safely. She wears a face covering, and says that even before the pandemic she always carried disinfectant products. 21Sam Clarke is an assistant professor in the college of business at California State University San Marcos. He agrees that some in-person events - like trade shows - will still be important in the future. But he thinks new kinds of business travel could also develop. 22Clarke also expects some companies to change their travel policies. For example, he said companies could decide to let most employees work from home and then fly them all back to headquarters once a year. 23I'm Jonathan Evans. 24Dee-Ann Durbin and David Koenig reported on this story for the Associated Press. Jonathan Evans adapted the story for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. 25________________________________________________________________ 26Words in This Story 27confident - adj. certain that something will happen or that something is true 28disinfectant - adj. a chemical substance that is used to kill harmful germs and bacteria; a substance that disinfects something 29quarantine - n. the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading 30regional - adj. of, relating to, or characteristic of a certain geographic area 31teleconferencing - n. the use of telephones and video equipment to have a meeting with people who are in different places 32tourism - n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure 33volume - n. an amount of something