What to expect on your journey back to corporate travel

For anyone who has kept even just one eye on the news since the start of 2020 it will come as no surprise to learn that the journey back to corporate travel as we once knew it isn’t guaranteed to be a smooth one.

As cases of Covid-19 peak, plateau and hopefully even plummet, depending on where you are in the world, travel managers and corporates should strap in for what could be months of more uncertainty.

However, one thing that separates any uncertainty we might feel now from the uncertainty spread around the world in the early days of the pandemic is knowledge and experience.

Over the next six months travel managers can expect:

Last minute changes

Quickly enforced travel restrictions, isolation requirements and variation in how different countries are coping with Covid-19 combine to ensure that last minute trips and last minute changes are something that travel managers will have to contend with for the next six months.

A change in priorities

Many corporates understandably hit pause on their corporate travel strategy when the pandemic began in 2020. Now that many are returning to press play, they’re finding that the goals the strategy was built to achieve are no longer relevant.

A focus on travel risk management

Mitigating against the health and safety risks that are now associated with corporate travel is a top priority for travel managers and their organisations right now. The release of ISO 31030 has also reinforced this.

A rise in train travel

With international travel still tentative and restrictions ever-changing, many corporates are choosing to stick to domestic travel as a way of facilitating some business operations while also mitigating against risk and disruption = for that reason, travel managers can expect to see an increase in train travel.

A greater need for support

As travel managers continue to navigate uncharted territory and find new ways of working, they will need a greater level of support and guidance from their TMC. It’s important to utilise your TMC's experience and benefit from the lessons they have learned during their work with other customers.

Why Direct ATPI created a road map for returning to business travel

Direct ATPI have supported our clients throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and in doing so we have gathered a wealth of experience of navigating border closures, travel restrictions, operating charter flights and repatriating stranded travellers. We’ve also become adept at amending travel policies, creating booking processes and implementing new technology as a way of overcoming the challenges set by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Although the effects of Covid-19 seem all-pervasive, it’s important to consider aspects of travel that aren’t directly related to the impact of Covid-19 - aspects such as NDC content, customer service, online booking tools and travel management technology and sustainability.

In this roadmap we’re offering you the chance to develop a strategy that is geared towards the priorities that your organisation has for corporate travel right now. By selecting a few of the elements of corporate travel that are more important or intriguing to your organisation, you will create a roadmap of things to investigate and implement over the next few months.