From Pop-Up Policies to Bio-Safety Wellness — Managing Corp Travel Takes On New Complexities

Many international organizations have, quite rightly, reacted to the pandemic with a renewed focus on their employees’ safety and well-being. But some of these new wellbeing pushes, which tend to be associated with the risks the deadly Covid-19 virus can pose when traveling, may end up finding a permanent home in the company travel policy. Because in the same way the pandemic has accelerated virtual technology adoption, among other areas, it’s highlighting the importance of looking after the traveler. A lot of work was admittedly already being carried out around wellbeing, and mental health in particular, by companies before Covid, but as travel slowly returns it’s back on the radar as they work on policies that will be fit for purpose in the coronavirus era and beyond.

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“Covid-19 has changed the health and safety conversation, putting it front and center for all travelers,” according to booking and expense platform SAP Concur. Its recent 2020 Business Travel Survey found that ensuring personal health and safety while traveling was most important to business travelers, with 65 percent placing it in their top three considerations. For the survey, which polled 4,850 business travelers in 23 global markets, and 800 travel managers in eight global markets, it also found they expressed more positive emotions with the prospect of returning to the road than negatives — but 97 percent expect changes to travel norms, reflecting renewed interest in safety and wellbeing. “With these changes in place, 45 percent of travelers now say the trip itself is the most stressful phase of travel, a 50 percent increase from last year,” SAP Concur added. So what is on travel manager