Business trip to a growth point – Kommersant

The desire of Russian business to find new partners abroad and develop its branches in other countries has led to a restoration of the intensity of business trips abroad. Although the number of such trips, according to forecasts, is unlikely to return to the level of 2019 by the end of the year, the growth in January-April was 87%, and vacancies involving such trips increased by 20%. Most often, business tourists visit Turkey, Serbia and Kazakhstan, among the EU countries only Italy managed to keep its popularity.

In January-April 2023, the demand of business tourists for flights abroad grew by 87% year-on-year, according to Aeroclub data. The share of trips abroad increased in the total structure of business trips over the year from 11% to 15%. The head of OneTwoTrip for Business, Stepan Mastryukov, says that in January-May, the share of foreign travel in the structure of air bookings doubled year-on-year. During the same period, Raketa representative Daria Zubritskaya noticed an increase in demand two and a half times compared to last year.

Senior consultant of the recruiting center Kontakt InterSearch Russia Anastasia Vyalikova notes that over the year the number of vacancies where the work of specialists is related to foreign trips has grown by 20%. Companies have also become noticeably more likely to look for specialists who will work in their foreign branches, she adds.

Aeroclub Managing Director Yulia Lipatova points out that the share of business class flights on international flights has decreased from 12% to 9%, and the period of business trips abroad has decreased from eight to six days, which corresponds to the level of 2019. At the same time, according to her, the horizon of planning business trips abroad is gradually expanding.

Anastasia Vyalikova attributes this trend to the building of new international connections between companies: “Many of them are looking for suppliers after the departure of some Western players, they open foreign branches, and, in turn, players from other countries begin to work in Russia.” Magnum Hunt Executive Search Managing Partner Yuliya Krizhevich explains that videoconferencing is not enough for businesses to enter new markets, they need personal contact of both managers and specialists of various levels.

The most popular foreign destination for business tourists in Aeroclub is Turkey, which has formed 12% of travel demand since the beginning of 2023.

In second place are Serbia and Kazakhstan – 11% each. This is followed by Armenia (9%), UAE (7%), Uzbekistan (6%), China (6%), Belarus (4%), Italy (3%) and India (2%). Iran, according to Aeroclub, is not yet in the top 20 popular destinations. “Now there is an active building of partnerships with the BRICS countries, in the near future we do not see the return of European countries to the top 5,” says Ms. Lipatova.

Mr. Mastryukov expects an increase in the number of business trips to China, guided by the expansion of regular flights with the country. Daria Zubritskaya also lists Morocco, Oman, countries of Southeast Asia, and Latin America as promising destinations for business trips. According to Aeroclub’s estimates, employees of IT and telecom companies, companies in the mining, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, financial and consulting industries now go on business trips most often.

Despite the emerging positive trend, the total number of business trips abroad has not yet reached the pre-pandemic level. According to the results of January-April, the gap with the same period in 2019 was 54%, according to Aeroclub. Four years ago, foreign countries accounted for 21%. Today, business travel has recovered by 80% from pre-pandemic 2019, says Alla Ruchkina, head of sales and customer service at Continent Express. Yulia Lipatova expects that business demand for trips abroad will still grow, but she doubts that he will be able to reach the pre-pandemic volume. By the end of the year, the gap will be at the level of 40-45%, she suggests. Ms. Zubritskaya also counts on continued growth in the flow of business tourists abroad.

Alexandra Mertsalova