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Future Travel In The Wake Of COVID-19: Corporate Travel Managers Discuss

How business travel managers are preparing for future travel

5 min
Posted: 11 June 2020
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Are you preparing your business travellers for future travel in the wake of COVID-19? It can be daunting to know where to start. Things are changing, and as a travel industry, we're still facing ongoing, unprecedented challenges and quickly learning how to approach them safely and with vigilance.

Preparation is everything. With no certainty as to when travel will get back to normal, many businesses are planning for how their people will travel in the safest and most protected way in the interim. Egencia is providing support to these businesses and working hard to recognise and respond to their travellers' anxieties and mitigate risk in their corporate travel programmes.

We spoke to several corporate travel managers from a variety of our customers across different industries. We asked a series of questions to find out how they were preparing their travel programmes and travellers for the future of business travel.

  1. What actions are you taking to prepare your travel programme for future travel?

    Updating information: Travel managers want the ability to check who is travelling where and when, so they can immediately reach people if something changes or goes wrong. From auditing travel profiles to encouraging travellers to check their emergency contacts in their Egencia profiles, travel managers have been prioritising traveller information updates.

    "We're updating travel profiles with emergency contacts and making sure all information is accurate. We're also in the process of sorting through unused travel credits to see which ones were affected by COVID-19. And we're determining what will be considered essential travel." 

    — Whitni Willmore, travel manager at Engineered Structures, Inc.

    Communication: Companies have surveyed frequent travellers to understand how comfortable they are to resume travel and find out what they need to feel more confident. In partnership with their Egencia Account Managers, many businesses have also started to hold training and information sessions regarding future travel.

    Defining essential travel: Depending on the nature of the organisation, it may be that nearly all travel is essential, in specific services roles, for example. For most corporate travel managers however, defining essential travel will hinge more on who is travelling, what the clients' needs are, and where the traveller is heading.

    Unused ticket management: Understanding unused tickets and travel credits — and how they can be used — was important to most companies. Read how Egencia is helping travel managers leverage air credits with clear data.

  2. Are you adapting your corporate travel policies? If so, how?

    Rolling out essential travel rules: Many businesses are working diligently to define what essential travel looks like for them. Once companies determine this, the rules can be built into the corporate travel policies, displayed in search results on the Egencia travel management solution, and updated as necessary as travel post COVID-19 evolves.

    “We’re beginning to dive into the following: What is the cost beyond the cost of travel, the time involved, impact on the environment, scheduling availability etc. We’re looking to make sure we’re being efficient with travel on all fronts to ensure that our company is successful (and profitable)."

    — Whitni Willmore, travel manager at Engineered Structures, Inc.

    Updating advanced booking and short-notice travel: Typically, advanced booking tends to be cheaper, and many companies encourage it under normal circumstances. In the current climate, several of our customers are shortening the booking windows to allow for more flexibility in the lead up to travel.

    Frequent communication: As a travel management company (TMC), we’ve increased our communication frequency with business travellers to keep them informed of new updates. Several of our customers have said they now expect the same from their travellers, and they'll be encouraging travellers to touch base regularly.

    "We will be adapting a new travel protocol and requiring travellers to touch base on a more consistent basis should an emergency arise."

    — Irene Lavell, senior executive assistant at Merritt Woodwork

    Restrictions: Our business travel management solution allows travel managers to block travel to specific destinations or on certain carriers easily. Many of our customers said they're focusing on this and have been referring to the official country and region-specific travel information to keep restrictions in place where necessary.

    Approvals: Several customers have added new approvals to support safe travel. For example, setting more stringent approvals for travel to high-risk destinations. In normal circumstances, approval processes aren’t ideal, but in the current climate they can help mitigate and manage travel risk.

  3. How do you plan to support travellers before and after business travel?

    Following guidelines: Every corporate travel manager we spoke to said they would be following CDC guidelines and keeping up with current travel warnings and country, state, and region-specific travel bans, restrictions, and requirements.

    Creating traveller packs, including PPE: One of our customers said they were discussing how to send out traveller packs that would include personal protective equipment (PPE), such as a mask, gloves, sanitiser, and wipes. This pack will consist of a tip sheet on how to approach new cleanliness requirements from airlines, car rentals, rail companies, and hotels.

    Self-quarantine: Most companies are working through self-quarantine specifics and closely following the list of travel bans and requirements per destination. Understanding the quarantine requirements of each destination will also help inform decisions about essential travel.

  4. What tools or support would help as you're working through these updates and changes?

    Across the board, our customers felt support was the most important in three key areas.

    • Leveraging unused tickets and credits:

    Read this blog for more information on unused ticket management and reporting.

    • Identifying which airports are affected and reviewing state and country guidelines:

    Watch the video to find specific information on accessing the Help Center. The Help Center is where you’ll check to find the latest information on affected airlines and country-specific regulations.

    • Understanding how to prepare travellers for a business trip:

    Download the pre-traveller checklist to share with your business travellers.

  5. What do you and your travellers look forward to the most about being back on the road?

    Overwhelmingly, our customers said they were really looking forward to making in-person connections. Again, and again, corporate travel managers told us the best thing would be to "see and speak to clients, vendors, and colleagues face-to-face."

Get the help you need

We get it. Nothing beats an in-person connection. And until things go back to how they were, we're here to support our customers and help them navigate the new normal safely and successfully.

Trying to find a TMC that can support travel safety, help alleviate traveller anxiety, and give you a better understanding of your programme spend? Download the how to find the right travel management company checklist to find out what you should look for.

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