Rising Costs: What Does it mean for Business Travel?

Loadshedding, energy costs, inflation and the rising cost of living is hitting small business owners in South Africa hard. With little or no cash to spare, many SMEs are reconsidering their business travel needs, wondering whether they’ll ever be able to travel again. After all, whether you’re talking flight tickets, accommodation options or even per diem allocations, having travellers on the road is an expensive business. Oz Desai, GM Corporate Traveller, says it’s a frustrating situation to be in. “Travel is back on the agenda, with all that means in terms of growth, opportunities, and relationship-building, and yet rising costs mean that most small business owners have to think twice before making any travel decisions.” In terms of air travel, demand is far outstripping supply at the moment – there are simply not enough seats to provide for how many people want to fly. Coupled with skyrocketing fuel prices (according to IATA, the price of jet fuel has increased by nearly 150% in the last year), and passengers are now paying anywhere between 20% and 30% more for air tickets than they did in 2019. Looking locally, tickets have been impacted by the liquidation of Comair: with 40% of domestic capacity removed, the industry is expecting prices to continue to rise. As if that’s not enough, car rental has also been affected. Of course, the much-lamented price of petrol makes daily rentals more expensive, but an added complication comes in the form of fleet shortages (and the forces of supply…

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