MakeMyTrip sees 100% return to travel in pharma, realty, other corp sectors

Firm's recent market study says financial services, IT, consumer goods and auto are the laggards, may be the last ones to see a complete recovery in corporate travel

Corporate India is back to travelling for work with 100 per cent recovery across pharmaceuticals, healthcare, real estate and biotech sectors on MakeMyTrip, the online travel platform.

There is significant recovery in sectors including manufacturing, defense and space, logistics as well as utilities with professionals returning to travel for work. MakeMyTrip’s recent market study on the recovery trends for the corporate travel segment further indicates that sectors including financial services, IT, consumer goods and automotive will see relatively slower recovery and are likely to be the last to see a complete recovery as far as corporate travel is concerned, the firm said.

“As the second wave started to ease out July onwards, we began noticing an upward trajectory in travel bookings from medium and small business enterprises followed by professionals from large corporates. While recovery has definitely been slow within this segment considering corporates continue to work remotely, corporate travel is returning steadily with consistent week-on-week recovery. We have enhanced our existing corporate travel solutions and have attuned products to the travel requirements post the pandemic. Our priorities included improving discoverability of travel options basis travellers preferences and past booking behavior, and offering a smooth post-travel experience of filing and seeking approval on reimbursements among others," said Raj Rishi Singh, Chief Business Officer – Corporate Travel at MakeMyTrip.

The market study by MakeMyTrip further indicates that two-third of the corporates who returned to travelling were sales representatives, followed by professionals in consultant and leadership roles.

Currently, 50 per cent of the travel bookings made on MakeMyTrip’s corporate travel offerings are being made for client meetings, followed by visit to vendors and distributors, and factories or manufacturing plants.

Data from the online travel platform indicates nearly 90 per cent travellers prefer staying at hotels in close proximity to the office – that also follow adequate safety and hygiene protocols followed by 10 per cent who prefer booking a guest house or service apartment.

Travelling by air continues to remain the most preferred mode of travel with merely 10% professionals willing to travel in their personal vehicles for work.

With the pandemic bringing along long-term changes in travel booking behaviors for good, planning and booking behaviors of corporate travellers have also undergone some changes over the course. Flexibility for travel bookings is the number one priority for travel administrators and travellers alike.

Considering the ever-evolving scenarios around the pandemic, corporates prefer searching and booking flights and hotels closer to the date of travel –with 40-45 per cent bookings being made within a week of travel date. Some of the other offerings actively searched and opted for include travel insurance, COVID-19 health insurance and bookings with zero or minimum cancellation charges.

While health and safety remains a top priority amid the pandemic, access to travel solutions that offer a stress-free post-travelling experience with regards to filling reimbursements has also emerged as one of the key requisite of new-age business travelers.

To help corporates do away with the tedious process of filing travel expenses, MakeMyTrip recently launched a new Expense Management (EM) feature for myBiz users. The tool allows corporate travellers to easily upload their travel expenses for reimbursements with a single tap on their mobile devices. The platform also allows travellers to also upload other expenses including mobile, meal, cab, laundry and others. The end-to-end expense management platform helps fasten the overall process of claiming reimbursements, approving claim requests and processing reimbursements –further making the process easy and hassle-free, in a few taps.