Largest Cohort of Marketers Don't See Physical Meetings Before 2022: ANA

There’s little appetite among U.S. marketers to board an airplane for business travel, even if their companies allowed it, and the biggest plurality (12.5%) thinks it will be September before business trips are reinstated, an Association of National Advertisers survey found. ANA canvassed 1,631 marketing professionals Jan. 18-29, finding 76% are barred by company policy from flying for business. When respondents were asked when they most likely would “feel comfortable” returning to in-person events if allowed to go, the largest proportion (31%) responded “sometime in 2022.” On factors that would make them “comfortable enough” to travel again, 75% of respondents said “being personally vaccinated” against COVID-19 would be the turning point, while 70% would be satisfied with “broad distribution” of the vaccine. A distant third comforting factor at 44% was better “understanding specific airline cleaning protocols.”