As the skies reopen and business travel gains momentum, strategic partnerships will prove vital to overcome inflation and supply chain concerns and reconnect teams in a meaningful way, according to travel managers speaking at a recent BTN webinar focused on industry recovery.
“We’ve forgotten how to travel, and how to book travel,” said Courtney Page, global category leader – meetings & events, and hotel at Chevron, who identified several challenges with the travel restart.
Along with the need to reacquaint travellers with online booking tools, Page highlighted inventory and staffing issues among suppliers as current concerns.
“I cannot underestimate the strength of partnerships with suppliers in getting through Covid-19. We need to focus on this as we get started because there are staffing issues and new people joining the industry. Hotels are closing off parts of their inventory to better manage housekeeping and hiring temps for banquets and events who may not be following correct safety guidelines… Transport companies are selling off parts of their fleet, so cars are difficult to find due to the global shortage of processors,” she explained.
“It’s wild and will require extreme partnership to get through, just like during [the peak of] Covid-19.”
And then there’s price shock. Like many TMCs, Page secured favourable hotel rates over the course of the pandemic, but has not been shielded from other “inflationary sections” of travel.
“We continue to show [leadership] how we are performing against the benchmark, against competitors, and we are performing well… There’s only so much you can control,” she said.
Sheila Kittle, global travel director for manufacturing company, Jabil, added that balancing budgetary concerns with duty of care and travel expectations has proved difficult.
“Travellers can’t believe how expensive things have gotten, with less services,” she said. “Expectations on the return of travel are being challenged by current market realities.”
She added: “We have great relationships and our suppliers are helping [tackle supply and demand issues]. We did our best to take care of them during the pandemic and now they are looking after us.”
Kittle, who continued to book ‘business critical’ international travel throughout the pandemic, said internal travel policies have now been eased, but virtual meetings are still encouraged.
Travelling less, but travelling better
Katie Virtue, client solutions lead at global consultancy, Festive Road, said many of her clients are reassessing the ROI of travel, and balancing profit with purpose.
She said companies are sharpening focus on traveller wellbeing and experience, and conducting a gap analysis across the entire traveller journey to identify pain points.
“Companies are thinking more broadly, moving from having [objectives around people, planet and purpose] in mind to now adjusting policy, approval processes and messaging… and these can be automated into technology,” she said.
Echoing this, HSBC’s head of concierge travel and events operations, Claire Turner, said the bank is working to implement a new strategy to “travel half as much but make the experience twice as good”.
While implementation has only just begun, Turner said the new approach considers the cultural and social benefits of travel for its international workforce – now largely remote – while also assessing the impact on financial and carbon budgets.
“We want to come back [to travel] in this new, smarter way, rather than reverting back to old travel patterns,” she said.
To aid this shift, she employs a simple tactic: asking prospective travellers to list goals that can that can only be achieved by meeting in-person.
New work models are also dictating the future of travel for software giant, Salesforce.
Senior global travel director, Dorian Stonie, said the pandemic gave them the opportunity to “hit the reset button” – restructuring company goals, culture, processes and systems.
This included the creation of the Trailblazer Ranch in Scotts Valley, California, which was built as a “gathering place” to help remote workers connect. When doors open later this year it will host training events and wellness retreats for some 73,000 employees.
Like HSBC, Salesforce is sharpening focus on purpose, with travel objectives aligned not only to sales, but employee retention, morale and engagement.
If there’s a silver lining to the pandemic it’s the chance to reposition travel as an investment rather than a cost. But, for this shift to happen, Festive Road’s Virtue said travel must be linked to business objectives, not tactical components. In doing so, she said TMCs will be able to connect with different stakeholders and partner with suppliers to create new opportunities.