Researchers again found virtual communication offers "limited" capacity to replace face-to-face meetings. But with support for predicted reductions of between 20 percent and 30 percent in business travel volume due to trends accelerated by the pandemic, they argued that understanding how businesspeople choose between travel and virtual "has become urgent."
Researchers at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland between May and June 2021 quizzed 174 frequent travelers on their decision-making processes. The travelers had averaged 25.5 short-haul and 7.7 long-haul flights annually before the pandemic.
"In contrast . . .