Facing uncertainty in business travel

This is probably one of the words we have heard most in the last two years: uncertainty.

Uncertainty is not just a word, it is also a state that most of us have had to face. Whether in our personal or professional lives, uncertainty has led to many questions but also to a certain "floating". Of course, many areas have been impacted. This is particularly true in the business travel sector, which has been hit hard, bringing most activities to a halt in March 2020.

What is your attitude towards travel?

Since then, travel, even if it is still low, is gradually picking up. This is due to the opening of borders and the easing of travel conditions, but also to the need for companies to travel. While the number of international trips is increasing by 10% each month and national business trips have increased sevenfold (1), this raises many questions. "How do I travel?", "Under what conditions?", "Do I want to travel?", "Will I be safe?" and if I am travelling on business, "Will my company let me travel?".

What attitude should we adopt in a context where the general insecurity hinders our ability to plan ahead? These are all questions which, on closer examination, interfere with the decision to travel or not, which is no longer determined solely by the reason for the trip itself but by a whole host of external reasons.

These questions have become structuring for companies as far as :

- Travel, if not a priority, remains an essential growth lever for business development and therefore for the company. Finally, even if videoconferencing tools have proved to be a good alternative to certain business trips, they are not a substitute for meetings. This is also highlighted by Deloitte's Why We Fly matrix (2), which classifies the reasons why professionals travel according to their essentiality for the company and the possibility of replacing certain trips with videoconferencing tools. In this way, trips with a high business impact will be favoured. This is the case, for example, for customer meetings, which involve a high level of interpersonal relations. Conversely, low-impact trips will be easily replaced (conferences, internal training, etc.)

- Safety and well-being issues are a key concern for travellers and businesses too. The addition of health to travel security has intensified the importance of these issues. This is especially true since travel is now nine times more likely to result in medical repatriation (3). Companies and travel managers are therefore more and more concerned about the well-being of their employees, which is a way of ensuring their happiness at work and of alleviating the tiredness of frequent travellers for better overall efficiency.

- Ecological issues have been brought to the forefront and are raising awareness among companies who are increasingly concerned about the carbon footprint generated by their travel. Indeed, business travel, even if it is not the most CO2 consuming sector, is a sector that generates 1 to 2% of global emissions (4). For many companies, this is enough to initiate positive action and change on the part of the travel community.

Travelling yes, but the question now is how.

Although a considerable amount of work has been carried out by companies to identify how they could travel better (or less), we can see that they are still having a lot of difficulty in taking this step. However, the implementation of clear processes and the definition of a good travel policy are strong elements of comfort for travellers and, in addition, help the company's activity. This guarantees employees a safe travel environment that is conducive to the success of their mission. It is particularly on these aspects that business travel specialists can bring all their expertise to companies to help them redefine their ways of travelling and accompany them to take action in :

- Avoiding non-essential travel, without compromising your business objectives. This includes having a travel policy and approval system in place that allows for day trips to be approved, for example, and making employees aware of the carbon impact of their travel.

- Offering tools that address the issues of traveller safety and well-being by notifying travellers of health, customs and security information. The objective is to provide specific support to each traveller before, during and after their trip. In this way, travel conditions are optimal and offer maximum comfort and minimum stress for the employee.

- By choosing the "greenest" option for essential travel, which is crucial to the achievement of your missions and objectives. Working through an agency guarantees that employees have all the information relating to the impact of each of their trips when they make their reservation and can therefore make the most judicious choices, for example, by favouring train travel, direct flights rather than indirect flights, the rental of hybrid or electric vehicles, etc.

Supporting change

Indeed, the events that have followed one another in recent years have pushed professionals in the sector to be resilient. As a result, innovation has accelerated in the sector and today new tools are arriving on the market to help companies face these new economic, ecological and security challenges. For example, data is increasingly used to provide companies and their travellers with real-time monitoring tools (cost monitoring, real-time alerts, etc.). The exploitation of this data plays a major role and allows companies to make the best decisions at the best time. This trend is confirmed by McKinsey (4) in its study The comeback of corporate travel: How should companies be planning?

Beyond the innovative aspect, TMCs have a real part to play with companies, purchasing departments and travel managers who need to be supported in this change. In this respect, the role of the travel industry is changing. Consulting, account management and monitoring are becoming essential roles in order to provide our clients with the best possible support by helping them to make the right decisions and to get both employees and management on board. In the face of uncertainty, this support is essential. It allows us to offer a reassuring travel framework for companies and their travellers while meeting strategic challenges.

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Discover two of our white papers

The Business Travel Mindset Reset

There's been a shift. A shift in how we work, a shift in our priorities, and a shift in our mindsets. But what's shifted in business travel? After months of being grounded and spending more time at home, companies are reevaluating in-person meetings and thinking twice before approving a trip. The question becomes - how will companies start to prioritise what happens face-to-face vs. virtually? It starts by defining meaningful travel.