Business travellers hesitant to return to trans-Tasman travel

International business travellers are sceptical about returning to the skies despite the recent opening of the quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia.

Departure card data shows that in 2019 an average of 17,500 kiwis per month were travelling to Australia for business purposes. A figure that dropped to 137 business travellers per month while border restrictions were in place.

Official data is not yet available to show how many business travellers have departed New Zealand since the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble, but business leaders say they are taking a cautious approach; preferring to stick to online meetings, rather than returning to face-to-face meetings across the Tasman.

Steve Main, general manager of brand agency Principals, used to travel to Australia at least once every three months to visit the company’s head office in Sydney or to visit Australian-based clients. 

“The rhythm of business has changed,” says Mr Main. “What we’ve found is that [meeting online] works super-well, rather than having to travel which is the way we’ve done things in the past.

Steve Main, General Manager of Principals, is unlikely to return to regular trans-Tasman business travel despite the opening of the travel bubble.

Mr Main indicated that several factors were holding him back from travelling again, including the increased cost of travel, the ease of meeting online and the risk of being stuck overseas if an outbreak caused the borders to close at short notice.

“Fares are expensive, that’s definitely a factor, but even if fares revert to being cheaper again, it’s still cheaper to get on a zoom call,” said Mr Main.

“We haven’t seen any of our colleagues in Australia since December 2019, but we’re talking to them every day.”

“In everybody’s mind is this concept that if there’s an outbreak, I could get stuck there,” says Mr Main, “so I don’t feel a pressing need to go over there, to visit the team in Australia.”

Meanwhile, other businesses have joined the initial flurry of travellers across the Tasman but have done so with the mindset the opportunity to do so is unlikely to last.

Prior to COVID, senior manager of Hays Talent Solutions’ international talent sourcing centre, David Butler-Smith would also travel regularly for operations meetings and training sessions at the company’s Sydney office. 

Having transitioned to conducting these meetings online, Mr Butler-Smith assumed the change would be permanent. However, the day after the travel bubble opened, he departed to Sydney for a three-day visit.

“There has been a reaction of ‘let’s use this time’, because we don’t know when the borders are going to close again, to do the things that are hard to do virtually,” said Mr Butler-Smith.

But despite having completed a trip to Sydney already, Mr Butler-Smith believes that he will not travel as frequently as the last year has shown there are more sustainable ways to achieve business outcomes.

“Businesses need to reflect on how much they do need to travel, and not just from a cost perspective, but also the environmental impact,” says Mr Butler-Smith.

“There will be a long-term impact of COVID, and it will have significant impact on travel.”

The impact doesn’t appear to be only limited to business travel either. Leisure travellers who crossed the border since the travel bubble opened have already noted that, while there seems to be a flurry of travellers coming from Australia to New Zealand, kiwis aren’t spreading their wings so quickly.

News.com.au Travel Editor, Vanessa Browne, travelled on one of the first flights from Sydney to Wellington. Following the trip, she reported that on her flight to Wellington “rows were full”.

However, her return journey was very different. “Everyone had a row to themselves,” Ms Browne reported.