Study reveals 97% Malaysian professionals eager to restart work-related trips, experts agree

KUALA LUMPUR – Despite travel restrictions throughout Malaysia due to the COVID-19 pandemic, business travellers are eager to resume work-related trips as they believe that the current travel hiatus is impeding their business objectives.

The latest study by SAP Concur reveals that Malaysian professionals hope to restart their in-person meetings soon, with 97% of respondents expressing willingness to travel for business trips over the next 12 months.

58% of the one hundred Malaysian respondents surveyed said they were ‘very willing’ to resume work trips, while 39% said they were ‘somewhat willing’; only 3% said that they were ‘not too willing’ to resume trips.

“The pandemic has upended business travel in the past year and a half. Yet, it has also reaffirmed business travel’s importance in forging business and personal connections, enabling career advancement,” said SAP Concur Asia Pacific vice president and head of strategy Dr Carl Jones (left in pic above).

“While uncertainty continues to linger around travel curbs, companies can support business travellers by updating travel policies to provide more flexibility in flight and accommodation selection, better protecting employees’ health and safety.

“Then as vaccinations progress and travel bubbles form in the coming months, they will be better positioned to enable safe travel, facilitating business growth and talent retention.”

The top three concerns cited for respondents’ willingness to resume work trips were to retain employees (45%), fewer new deals signed (44%) and fewer contract renewals with existing clients (43%).

Without business travel, respondents fret that they would make less money (70%), not advance in their careers (43%) or even lose their jobs (34%).

Compared to previous years, however, some 58% of Malaysian respondents would rather use their personal vehicles or rent a car instead of using public transportation for domestic work-related trips.

Meanwhile, industry thought leader and Netccentric Limited executive chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah (right in pic above) said that, from his observations, travel restrictions imposed for the past year and a half had resulted in numerous Malaysians undergoing ‘Movement Control Order (MCO) fatigue’.

“Although we’re not out of the woods yet with the pandemic, the study suggests that working Malaysians are missing face-to-face interactions to get things done and business moving again,” said Ganesh who is also chairman of Future Digital, the think tank arm of the National Tech Association of Malaysia (PIKOM).

“That said, when restrictions are finally lifted for travel, it would be wise for business travellers to continuously observe SOPs (standard operating procedures) until such a time when the majority of the population have been vaccinated, and when COVID-19 is no longer perceived as a threat,” he added.

“Until then, it would be sensible to take the necessary precautions, such as buying through e-commerce instead of going into an air-conditioned packed supermarket to shop.”