Valley cities work to rebuild business travel in 2022

While COVID-19 decimated the travel industry in 2020 and 2021, Valley officials are hopeful 2022 will be a year for rebuilding what was lost, especially in the lucrative area of business travel.

That effort might have more of an uphill battle than leisure travel, which is on the upswing after nearly two years of the pandemic, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s State of the Hotel Industry report for 2022.

According to an analysis by Kalibri Labs, leisure hotel spending throughout 2022 will have returned to 2019 levels, but business travel will struggle to reach 80% of its pre-pandemic levels. A full recovery isn’t expected until 2024 as new variants and travel restrictions delay or defer plans. However, global business travel is projected to increase by 14% this year, with the U.S. projected to grow that sector by 30%.