Clear communication and strong supplier relationships will be needed to manage the reboot of business travel, according to a white paper jointly produced by travel management company, Clarity, and consultancy, Festive Road, released this week at the Business Travel Show in London.
The report outlines 10 ‘quick wins’ to get travel programmes off the ground in a volatile as post-pandemic marketplace and provides advice on how to address current industry pressures, such as TMC and supplier staff shortages.
According to the report, a shifting supplier landscape calls for regular traveller and booker communications, with travel managers advised to build a plan that supports and guides travellers while keeping a close eye on changes affecting service, schedule, and capacities.
Clarity Business Travel CEO, Pat McDonagh, said: “In many cases it’s taken two years for travel to restart, along with businesses’ working practices, and the market landscape has changed dramatically in that time.”
The paper also highlights the reprioritisation of the metrics – with regards to both financial and sustainability targets – and underscores the importance of internal stakeholder relationships with a recommendation to regularly report to senior leaders on how investments in travel are helping to achieve business goals.
When it comes to integrating CO2 emissions targets into travel policies, McDonagh said managers need to educate travellers to make an informed decision at the point of sale by presenting emissions data and, where appropriate, offering more sustainable alternatives.
“It’s about dissuading some travel and thinking holistically about travel cost, carbon impact and the reason for the trip when deciding if the traveller should go,” he said.
The report also references Hays data pointing a ‘great resignation’, with more than 40 per cent of workers expected to leave their jobs in 2022. To address this, the authors stress the need to identify ‘actionable steps’ to enable the travel and meetings programme to be a positive contributor to employee productivity, engagement, and retention.
Other areas explored in the report include the impact of Brexit on travel programmes and how to ‘refresh’ programmes to better align with strategic business goals.