Business travel will return, but it won’t be the same
The pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on travel. However, with the travel and tourism industry on the road to recovery in certain parts of Asia Pacific, the way we travel has changed, especially for business customers. While the new normal for corporate journeys is different to before, COVID-19 will undoubtedly accelerate some of the trends we have been seeing in business travel, such as digitalization and creating frictionless travel experiences.
I recently participated in a Lufthansa Innovation Hub study together with peers from Skift, BCD Travel and other leading companies and organizations from the wider travel ecosystem to weigh in on the future of business travel. While we can't predict the future, we tried to answer questions around duty of care, well-being, remote working, digitalization, and sustainability. Four overarching themes were derived from the study, namely the virtualization of work, employee well-being, sustainability concerns and traveler empowerment. We believe these are the foundations that will shape the future of business travel.
Importance of face-to-face meets in a hybrid workforce
As a result, it is likely that corporations bring even more focus and importance to face-to-face meetings to promote social engagement, and promote a sense of belonging, in addition to one-on-one sessions like talent development or performance assessment discussions to increase intimacy and engagement. 36% of Amadeus' customers believe MICE will go through a deep transformation, driven by virtual meetings, trade fairs and hybrid events. Our latest Reboot. Recharge. Rethink Business Travel survey says so.
As people start travelling for business again, duty of care should be the primary value-add for corporations to help employees navigate through disruptions quickly and bring back traveler confidence, even for shorter trips.
Duty of care taking center stage
As far as duty of care is concerned, employee health and safety has become the top priority for employers globally. Industry experts predict that this will be a major factor in restoring business travel. The focus on overall health and wellbeing will be improve employee satisfaction and talent retention. While health, safety and wellbeing are the main drivers for recovery, millennials will place culture and employee experience high on their list to join or stay with a company. Organizations will need to focus on implementing traveler well-being programs that counter the stresses of traveling, in their talent acquisition and retention strategies. For example, employees may be given more flexibility when traveling for business - such as a wider selection of hotels or allowing bleisure travel - as a means to address well-being.
Sustainable travel is the future
In this area, experts are divided on the impact of sustainability on the future of business travel. Sustainability has long been a key trend before the pandemic. However, COVID-19 has led to carbon emissions plummeting, less congestion on freeways and cleaner air space in big cities. This gives us an unprecedented opportunity to rethink the way we travel in a way that is more sustainable, more responsible and addresses some of the environmental and social concerns. It starts from an individual level when a traveler has the choice to personalize and book their journey.
At Amadeus, sustainability expands through all we do as a business and we are constantly looking at how we can make travel more sustainable. Another area we see a lot of potential in leading the shift towards sustainable travel is in Multimodality. Multimodal solutions have been identified as a response to making transport greener and more accessible, by allowing travelers to adopt the less polluting modes of transport whenever possible, fostering a more sustainable journey. Learn more about multimodal travel.
Empowering travelers with a mix of self-service and expert guidance
While travel is likely to be subjected to increasing restrictions, experts see a shift towards empowering employees to make travel decisions voluntary in the short term, driven by tech-enabled self-services. Beyond the online services to manage bookings, airports and airlines have introduced touchless interactions, contactless payment options, digital servicing and high-level personalization with updated content that enables safe travel. For example, self-service kiosks and auto bag drop units without physical inputs are being introduced at airports that allow the use of mobile phones to control the device or leverage a QR code to automatically print bag tags from contactless printers. Some airports are even offering check-in and bag-drop to take place at different areas within the airport such as car parks and dining areas, or off the airport entirely at hotels and train stations.
This was the trend before COVID-19 and it will continue after, where the traveler wants to do as much as they can on their own, when and where they want, with access to personalized and relevant information. However, the pandemic highlighted the critical role that travel agencies and travel experts play. Looking at the help travel agents provided customers to avert and navigate disruptions during lockdowns and restrictions across the globe, travelers want to access travel managers, but also be able to use the same self-service digital tools. Hence, a hybrid model integrating both digital self-service tools and the human touch to manage business travel is highly likely moving forward.
Challenges remain. But we must focus on defining a strategy to recover from the crisis and emerge stronger. The key to success is to focus on travelers, nurture partnerships, be open, act fast, and think long-term. Now is the time to work together to Reboot, Recharge, Rethink Business Travel.
Source: Amadeus Blog
Author: Renaud Nicolle; Senior Vice President, Business Travel Asia Pacific, Amadeus