Healthcare improvement leads to sharp increase in corporate travel

With the arrival of September, the return of employees to work and the improvement of social and health conditions, many companies are resuming office activity. This is also reflected in the increase in corporate travel during the last few months. In fact, according to Free Now for Business data, corporate cab journeys made through the app have increased by an average of 148.3% in the last year compared to 2020.

In addition to this increase, there is a new trend when it comes to commuting to the office in more flexible and sustainable options, such as shared mobility and micromobility services.

The increase in corporate commuting during these últimos months may find its foundation in the fact that some socio-labor activities, such as meetings, have been gradually resuming.

In fact, according to the últimos data from GBTA, trips to visit clients increased by 43% during the month of June 2021, and those for events or meetings by 27%.

Along the same lines, data from Free Now for Business,  point to month-on-month growth in corporate travel from February through June 2021, with trips increasing by about 17% on average per month.

Also noteworthy is the growth during the summer months. In June, 16.7% more cab trips were recorded than in the previous month and the same growth was experienced in July, confirming the upward trend.

According to the previous year, there has been a strong growth since April, when more than 660% of corporate trips were recorded compared to 2020, up to the present.

Another reason for the increase in such travel in the úlst few months is the hurried return to the office, which has occurred in as many as 52% of cases, according to the úlst GBTA data.

This same survey also states that, currently, up to 45% of employees have the option of working from the office or if they prefer from home, and 19% have to commute at least once a week to their place of work. In addition, 59% of employees want to continue to travel for work.

In addition to corporate travel by cab, the return to the office seems to be accompanied by new forms of mobility, with one in two employees wanting their daily mobility to be more flexible.

In this sense, employees between 30 and 39 years old (58%) are the ones who demand more flexibility when it comes to moving and 71% of Spanish workers consider positively to have a mobility budget.

This new employee benefit is gaining increasing popularity among European companies, with 65% of European employees demanding it, especially in countries such as France, Germany and Spain;countries such as Romania a (79%), Italy (76%) and Spain a (71%).

48% of companies adopting the mobility budget prioritize models of sustainable mobility over cost, among other reasons, because it allows them to be in line with their CSR objectives.

Among the options most in demand by employees for these mobility budgets are electric bikes (37%), cabs or private transport (36%) and electric motorcycles (21%).

The most popular options among employees for these mobility budgets are electric bicycles (37%), cabs or private transport (36%) and electric motorcycles (21%).