Companies in Europe are almost twice as likely as those in
North America to have employees travelling now or within the next three months,
according to a recent survey of 263 corporate clients by Uniglobe Travel.
Only 32 per cent of North American indicated that employees
are currently travelling or will do so within the next one to three months,
compared to 61 per cent of European respondents. Globally, the number was 48.7
per cent. North Americans appear less confident as well, with 51 per cent
saying they don’t know or it’s too early to say when their employees will get
back on the road, compared to 27 per cent of Europeans.
In line with these expectations, 56 per cent of European
companies have made policy changes in relation to the coronavirus, while only
41 per cent of North Americans had done the same. The most common policy
changes globally were limiting or banning travel for internal meetings (64.1
per cent) and limiting participation at meetings or conferences based on
attendee numbers or places of origin (54.1 per cent), followed by a new trip
approval process (43.7 per cent) and restricting destinations, even if they are
allowed by government authorities (41.4 per cent). However, only 11.4 per cent
of respondents expect to see 50 per cent or more of travel to be moved to
virtual meetings.
Fewer than 10 per cent of companies intend to introduce or
change insurance policies (9.9 per cent), require travellers to have a vaccine
or take antibody tests (7.7 per cent), have travellers sign liability waivers
(6.1 per cent), or require the use of a tracking app (6.1 per cent) as a result
of the pandemic.
Martin Charlwood, president and COO of Uniglobe Travel
International, said: “Looking at the travel policy changes, there is a discernible
traveller-centric approach. The least popular policy changes are those that
impact traveller rights and privacy…”
Environmental or sustainability considerations will come to
the fore in future policies, with more than half (55.3 per cent) saying this
will be strengthened over the next 18 months and 42.9 per cent saying it will
be maintained. Only 1.8 per cent expect it to be weakened or eliminated. Prior
to the Covid-19 outbreak, only 21.3 per cent of respondents included
sustainability in their policies.
Andrew Henry, VP of US operations at Uniglobe, added: “As
companies have increasingly been prioritising sustainability within travel
programmes, we know that balancing sustainability with physical distancing can
be problematic. Many forms of environmentally friendly travel – such as shared
transport – are less popular or viable at this time.”