THE FUTURE OF WORK HOW BUSINESS TRAVEL IS CHANGING - DigiTravel Consulting
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HOW BUSINESS TRAVEL IS CHANGING
THE FUTURE OF WORK
These Are the Critical Factors to Consider as Companies
Devise Future of Work Rules for Employees and Travelers
CONTENT SOLUTIONS
T
Erica Stevens
Writer
he pandemic has blurred the lines between
home and office and between business traveler
Mary Ann McNulty and employee. Now more than ever, companies
Executive Director, Content Solutions
mmcnulty@thebtngroup.com
are learning how to listen to and care for their
employees—whether they are in an office, traveling
Louis Magliaro or working from home.
Executive Vice President
& Group Publisher
lmagliaro@thebtngroup.com
This process involves working out details around who returns to the
Lindsay Straub office, as well as when and how frequently. And it’s put travel managers
Associate Publisher
lstraub@thebtngroup.com
in an ideal position to influence not just their company’s approach to
travel, but to their people. “It isn’t about protecting a trip,” says Bruce
Mariza Moreira McIndoe, President, McIndoe Risk Advisory LLC. “It’s about protecting
Group Design Manager
the person who happens to be on a trip, or on assignment, or just work-
Angelica Mundrick ing in the office or from home.”
Graphic Designer
Sponsored by That’s why McIndoe believes the nature of the travel buyer’s role is
evolving—from one with an exclusive focus on the costs and risks of travel
to a more holistic one centered on employee well-being. And the key to
employee wellness, now and in the post-COVID era, is having flexible
policies, a re-imagined duty of care, and cutting-edge technology.
1
HOW BUSINESS TRAVEL IS CHANGING
THE FUTURE OF WORK
DIGITAL HEALTH PASSPORTS European Union countries began rolling out digital
AS A KEY TO RETURN TO WORK
passports this summer. In this rapidly developing
space, many other nations are considering the use
While some companies, governments and suppliers of COVID-19 vaccine passports, either for intra- or
are still exploring health passports as a key component international travel, including the U.K., Malaysia,
of reopening, others are already requiring the use of Singapore, Greece, Denmark and the U.S.
such digital tools to enter offices, buildings, countries,
arenas, convention centers and universities. Multiple international organizations have launched
efforts to set standards and coordinate the design and
Many international travelers are already familiar with implementation of vaccine passports for international
the general concept, having carried paper vaccina- travel—including the World Health Organization,
tion records (against malaria and yellow fever, for World Economic Forum, International Chamber of
example) for years. But digital health passports that Commerce, and the International Air Travel Associ-
track vaccination status and COVID test results in a ation. At the same time, some state governors and
smartphone app are more efficient than paper, and legislatures have complicated matters by swiftly
they’re already in use in several countries. Israel began adopting policies to prevent businesses, colleges or
issuing vaccinated citizens digital ‘Green Passes’ in other entities from requiring the use of such passports
February 2021, with the goal of allowing less restricted in their jurisdictions.
internal movement and access to gyms and theaters,
while China and Bahrain have issued digital vaccine Below is a list of some of the providers and partner-
passports to expedite international travel.1 ships that have emerged so far.
Passport Provider Partners Deployment Status
Delta, United Airlines, Walmart, some Available now, but on a limited
Clear Health Pass stadiums (Coors Field, Globe Life basis (select flights to Hawaii only,
Field), the NBA and Ticketmaster some stadiums)
The Commons Project, World
Economic Forum, many airlines
incl. United and Lufthansa and the
CommonPass Vaccination Credential Initiative, Available now on select flights
a coalition of health and tech
leaders forged to speed digital
access to such records
Available now for airlines
participating in a trial (Singapore
IATA Travel Pass Over 30 airlines
Air, Ethiopian, Pegasus, Azerbaijan,
Royal Brunei, ANA)
IBM Digital Health Pass
Salesforce, State of New York Available now
(Excelsior Pass)
American Airlines, British Airways, Available now for international
VeriFLY Aer Lingus, Japan Airlines flights into the U.S. and abroad
V-Health (HELIIX Health Pass) City of Las Vegas Available now
Travelers can upload
TripActions vaccination records and test
results for easier access
Sources: Company websites and information
2
1
ey Questions about COVID-19 Vaccine Passports and the U.S., Anna Rouw, Kaiser Family Foundation, viewed May 15, 2021
K
(https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-COVID-19/issue-brief/key-questions-about-COVID-19-vaccine-passports-and-the-u-s/)
HOW BUSINESS TRAVEL IS CHANGING
THE FUTURE OF WORK
Widespread use of vaccine passports, including in the
U.S., is still far away—partly because successful global
“It isn’t protecting
vaccination programs are still years out. Will Tate,
Partner at GoldSpring Consulting, notes that this is the
main reason most companies haven’t issued policies
with respect to health passports. “It’s just too early,”
a trip. It’s about
he says. “Vaccines need to be more readily available protecting the person
who happens to
everywhere first.”
In the meantime, companies and business travelers are
in an uncomfortable kind of limbo, says McIndoe, “while
be on a trip or on
we deal with this hybrid environment of vaccinated and assignment.”
unvaccinated people for the foreseeable future.”
~Bruce McIndoe, President,
NAVIGATING THE CHALLENGES McIndoe Risk Advisory LLC
OF COVID-ERA TRAVEL
This hybrid vaccinated/unvaccinated environment
can create significant headaches and research for take care of a traveler,” he says. “It’s very challenging.”
some corporate travelers as they navigate changing In other words, travel in this “new normal” can
testing and quarantine restrictions. be messy and labor-intensive—with the possible
exception of a few isolated travel bubbles. Frequently
Leading corporate travel solutions, and even some updated booking flows, backed by knowledgeable
travel managers, have aggregated data that their agents, are even more important for corporate travel-
travelers need on portals, communiques or as part of ers to keep up with the latest news about reopened
booking paths. That makes it easier for road warriors country borders and quarantine requirements. Instead
and company managers to ensure that travelers get of researching rules and restrictions, travelers allow
the most up-to-date information as they book, without their corporate travel solution or travel managers to do
having to waste time searching multiple sites. the research for them.
Business travelers should also be aware of potential According to Koch, “The idea is, let’s get back to
supply challenges, as pent-up leisure demand quickly encouraging business, to figuring out a way that we
outpaces supply. For example, J. Michael Silvey, Vice can have travel.” Perhaps the way to survive is to follow
President—Americas at Areka Consulting, says there the advice of 6th-century philosopher Lao Tzu and be
will be significantly more cars on the road this summer like water: fluid and flexible. Remarkably, many compa-
as domestic travelers begin to venture out. And as nies have adapted their policies in just this way.
leisure travelers pack flights, airlines are sometimes
struggling to add planes and crews fast enough to ADAPTABLE POLICIES
ARE THE NORM
keep up with the rebounding demand.
In fact, Greeley Koch, Vice President, DigiTravel Flexibility around travel is fast becoming the rule—
Consulting, says supplier viability is top of mind for especially with respect to who will travel where and
most of his travel buyer clients, given how many jobs when. For some companies, business travel never
and services have been cut across the travel industry. stopped, while others have started to ramp up again.
“Travel buyers are having trouble even reaching peo- With the ongoing uncertainty around the risk of
ple at airlines or hotels, whether to negotiate rates or COVID-19, many are allowing travelers to opt in or out.
3HOW BUSINESS TRAVEL IS CHANGING
THE FUTURE OF WORK
“They want their employees to feel safe, first and fore- Besides the inherent loss of intangibles and bonding
most,” says Silvey. “If someone doesn’t want to travel, via face-to-face encounters, a growing number of
they don’t have to. And if the trip is mission critical, studies are pointing to the mental health, well-being
the company will find someone else” to go. and employee burnout concerns of “Zoom fatigue.”
Stanford researchers earlier this year noted that video
The more interesting question is whether they should chats fatigue users for four primary reasons:
travel at all. Caroline Strachan, Managing Partner at
Festive Road consultancy, points out that companies 1) Excessive amounts of close-up eye contact is
have discovered just how well video conferencing highly intense.
can work for get-togethers people used to travel for, 2) Seeing yourself during video chats constantly in
such as an annual shareholder meeting. For many real time is fatiguing.
businesses, keeping those meetings virtual going 3) Video chats dramatically reduce our usual mobility.
forward makes good sense, especially when doing so 4) The cognitive load is much higher in video chats.
could save them millions of dollars.
“Let’s get back to encouraging businesses to
figuring out a way that we can have travel.”
~Greeley Koch, DigiTravel Consulting Managing Partner
On the other hand, there is inherent value in face-to- Navigating the right balance of virtual and in-person
face meetings for some purposes—like collaboration, encounters with co-workers, business partners and
team building, or learning development. Sure, all customers is now top of mind for many companies.
these activities can happen over Zoom or Teams,
but Koch and Strachan agree that something is lost How are they handling the changes? A Gartner survey
when they’re confined to a specific time. “You can’t of HR, legal, compliance, finance and real estate
underestimate how much happens during those executives at 127 companies found that 82 percent of
spontaneous interactions in the hallway, or at meals,” respondents intend to permit remote working some
says Koch. “You don’t want to give that up entirely.” of the time as employees return to the workplace.
Real estate firm CBRE also forecasts a rise in remote
That’s why smart companies are still willing to invest work, but also notes in “The Future Workplace: Top
in travel, provided its value and purpose are clear. 10 Predictions,” that “the physical office still has a role
“Putting that number back on the budget is a big to play. Companies will rethink the role of a single HQ
ask,” adds Strachan, “so we would encourage com- in favor of a broader ecosystem of work sites that may
panies to not think of travel as the default. Instead, include regional offices, coworking spaces and home
determine what can be gained from it—and if there to support increasing and ongoing mobility.”
are other options that would work equally well.”
Instead of “me space,” CBRE forecasts much greater
4HOW BUSINESS TRAVEL IS CHANGING
THE FUTURE OF WORK
For some companies, travel has never
stopped, while others have started to ramp
up travel again. Many are allowing travelers
to opt-in or out.
demand for “we space,” to accommodate team- Travel managers also have noted the need for
based, event-based and activity-based work. Whether flexibility in travel policies as employees increasingly
that space is in a company office, hotel, conference return to travel. Whether that means allowing travel-
facility or other location is the question for many. ers to rent a car to drive to a meeting, take a nonstop
instead of connecting flight, upgrade a class of
Flexibility appears to be the key. Louise Miller, service or book alternative lodging, travel managers
Managing Partner, Americas at Areka Consulting, are learning that flexibility is indeed key to navigating
says, “I’m actually surprised how many companies are unprecedented times. As more business travelers
planning to offer their employees a menu of options are expected to hit the road in coming months,
as to how often they come into the office. Very few are travel managers warn that such policies will need
insisting on anything.” In a July article on corporate to be baked into automated systems to manage the
travel, McKinsey said that “72% of executives report volume. With fewer travelers, many have been man-
that their companies have started to adopt permanent aging traveler expectations and concerns manually
remote-working arrangements for a subset of their on one-off approvals that simply won’t be feasible
employees. Nearly 40% of the workforce in the United as volume increases. Some are taking advantage of
States has the potential to work from anywhere. location-based or tier-based policy settings as well
These signals and others suggest that many organi- as location restrictions in automated booking tools to
zations are reevaluating working and organization ease the process for all.
arrangements, including when, why and how their
employees should hit the road.” To be sure, flexibility is needed as companies attempt
to schedule team meetings with their new remote
In the past year, some companies have allowed workforces. Do they meet in a company office, hotel,
employees to work from anywhere. As a result, some conference center, a central destination or else-
employees have relocated home offices to other states where? Should their company pay for remote workers
and countries to be closer to family or take advantage to fly or drive to a meeting? Companies large and
of a unique opportunity. Working from a different small are facing such questions in this new normal.
country for an extended period can pose both tax and
immigration issues, prompting clarifications on such NEW MANDATES ON TRAVEL
flexible location rules. Frequently changing border
closings, as well as testing and quarantine rules, are To minimize the health risks of these important meetings,
also prompting a need for patience and flexibility for companies have implemented a variety of enhanced
employees trying to navigate all. safety protocols—including new pre-trip approvals. Tate
5HOW BUSINESS TRAVEL IS CHANGING
THE FUTURE OF WORK
This company gets kudos for making the best of a
difficult situation. But ultimately, this level of admin-
“Many companies
istrative hassle is unsustainable. For employers,
chasing every employee to get tested—possibly
are planning to offer every few days if they’re unvaccinated—will be
a huge drain on resources. But it’s also a drain
employees a menu of on employees, who hope for (and will eventually
options...very few are
expect) a better experience.
insisting on anything.” “When companies really get to the pointy end of
operationalizing these issues,” explains McIndoe,
~Louise Miller, Areka Consulting they’ll want to make the system more uniform and
Managing Partner, Americas less costly. Mandating is the way to do that.”
At many companies, such corporate policies, or at least
discussions, have been the focus of broad internal
committees or task forces. Return-to-office and travel
says many businesses now require security interviews, policies often involve human resources, legal, risk
risk assessments, and senior leader approval to travel, management, administration, technology, and senior
which will be frustrating for some road warriors. leadership, along with travel and meetings. And, as
executives see competitors returning to travel and
But they’re also weighing whether to mandate vaccina- meetings, some are rapidly changing the policies and
tion, which could provoke much more than frustration strategies implemented just a few months ago. Travel
from employees. That is likely why 64 percent of the managers need to check in often with leadership to
travel buyers Tate’s firm surveyed recently said they are ensure their current and future policies remain aligned
planning to recommend—but not require—vaccination. with current strategy.
They’d rather leave mandating to the government IMPROVING USER EXPERIENCES
and do what they can to avoid legal challenges.
“Particularly outside the U.S., where there are strict Of course, new technology is key for streamlining
employment contracts, this is an HR nightmare,” says operations and improving user experience. Companies
Miller. Nevertheless, 12 percent of Tate’s surveyed have used the “pause” in travel to consolidate travel
clients said they will mandate. suppliers, and to integrate and streamline as many
disparate travel systems as possible, including travel
The alternative could look something like a large approval, booking, expense, payment, duty of care
meeting held by one of Tate’s clients. Attendees had to and even vaccine passport validations. Tools that
sign a liability waiver, get tested onsite or show proof of continually update travel restrictions and policies
vaccination, and wear color-coded wristbands: now make it easy to find out the rules in any given
destination. Some organizations even created at-a-
• Green – fully vaccinated; okay to hug or not social glance charts with their frequent city pairs or offices to
distance. provide employees with a quick view of what’s allowed
• Yellow – received one vaccine shot or had COVID; and not on any given day. In addition, integrated
prefer a fist bump and social distancing even if it’s duty-of-care systems have allowed more companies to
not required. strongly encourage, if not mandate, that travelers book
• Red – social distancing preferred; don’t want to be through preferred channels to gain the benefits of the
touched at all. integrated services.
6HOW BUSINESS TRAVEL IS CHANGING
THE FUTURE OF WORK
HOW SPEND MANAGEMENT expense report ready for the employee to approve
IS CHANGING and file. Machine learning and automation applied to
These unified tools have also transformed the traditional expense are not only helping employees file expense
spend management process—and just in time. With reimbursement requests faster; they’re also helping
more people working from home, the definition of accounting teams audit expenses, look for patterns of
“T&E” has expanded. Employees are now spending fraud and detect anomalies like never before. Nearly one
company money on items like office furniture and digital in five cases of work fraud involves expense reimburse-
subscriptions—and spend management systems that ment, according to the Association of Certified Fraud
can account for this rise in spot purchasing are essential. Examiners that regularly issues a report to the nation.
Employees can’t wait around for lengthy approvals,
after all, and finance departments need to ensure that But Susan Lichtenstein, Managing Partner of
spending falls within policy. DigiTravel Consulting, sees great possibilities on the
spend management front. “It’s time to remove all
Leading companies have long integrated payment these superfluous layers of approval,” she says. The
charges into individual expense reports to speed filing technology exists. And with travel managers’ more
for employees. The latest enhancements apply policy prominent role in their companies, now is the perfect
at the time of purchase, then automate feeds from opportunity to integrate these systems and take their
other systems and treat each transaction as a separate travel programs to an entirely new level. ■
About TripActions
Fast becoming the default for corporate travel and spend management, TripActions is the leading, cloud-based T&E
platform that combines industry-leading technology with best-in-class travel agency service. Trusted by travel managers
and finance teams alike at 5,000+ companies globally, TripActions leverages real-time data to keep traveling employees
safe, control costs and save time.
Learn more at tripactions.com.
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