Keeping track of business travellers in a fast-changing world

By Randall Gordon-Duff, Head of Product, Corporate Travel, Collinson Group, as part of its Supplier Showcase

Recent analysis⁽¹⁾ of ONS data by Collinson Group, for instance, found that UK business travellers spent £1.05 billion on business travel trips to the US in 2015 alone. Such is the value of the US market that the amount spent in 2015 was more than the combined value of the next two markets: Germany (£451 million, up 26%) and France (£408 million, up 1%).

Overall, total spend by UK business travellers was up 30% to £5.82 billion, with the number of individual visits up 7% against 2014 and the total number of nights spent on business travel up 17%.

The surge in UK business travel to key markets such as the US, Germany but also globally is a healthy reflection of the UK and its central role in the global economy. Increased travel shows that UK businesses are looking for new opportunities and building on established ones.

However, unrest in Germany with regards to refugees and recent terrorist activity in France and even the US highlight the need for employers to step up their Duty of Care levels for staff as they travel to countries across the globe that were formerly seen as low-risk.

Despite a rise in global security risks and concerns around terrorism, the ONS data for 2015 shows that a number of countries in the Middle East and Asia also saw a rise in business traffic and spend: a 995% rise in business spend to Pakistan, and a 197% rise to Tunisia, for instance, though both countries saw a drop in the number of visits (-13% and -26% respectively). Hong Kong saw a 35% drop in business travel visits in contrast to mainland China, which saw a 9% rise.

These figures reflect bigger global events with some airlines reducing the frequency of flights to certain destinations, which contributes to the drop in number of trips — but those who still visited often spent more on security and additional travel services due to increased concern about their personal safety and security while there.

The rise in business travel traffic and spend — particularly to fast-developing and emerging economies — comes in the wake of research⁽²⁾ by Collinson Group which found that many firms are falling short on their Duty of Care responsibilities towards staff who travel abroad on business.

Just 44% of companies said they ensure that their staff are issued with company guidelines for travelling on business before they depart, and only 38% admitted that they conduct risk assessments if the employee is going to an area deemed as high risk. A fifth (19%) of HR professionals said their firm had no corporate travel risk partner or Travel Management Company in place.

Overall, the world is a different place to what it was just a few years ago. Terrorist activity, for instance, in countries that used to be perceived as low risk has transformed the Duty of Care levels that employers should now be routinely considering for their employees, no matter where their business travel takes them.

Collinson Group believes that companies need to take a long look at the cover they have in place for their business travelling staff. Many Travel Management Companies, for instance, do not offer a comprehensive security element in their service — and in today's world, security is a critical element that a company needs to be considering for its staff.

1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/datasets/travelpac