Matthew Parsons

Ground transportation is often the weakest link in a travel program, but if suppliers ramp up their safety protocols in a similar way to the airline and hotel sectors, they'll play a pivotal role for those travel managers eager to rev their businesses back up.

Going by InterContinental Hotels Group's first quarter earnings update, there's good news coming out of the U.S. and China. But how Europe, the Middle East, and Africa respond to coronavirus over the next quarter will be critical to keeping that optimism alive.

This candid snapshot reveals how some corporations are already starting to rethink travel, and the shape of things to come.

It's a significant step since the launch of Southwest Business last year, designed to tap into the travel management community. Before the crisis, roughly a third of the airline’s traffic was corporate travel. This move could help it boost that market share.

It's unclear how many travel companies are training staff on furlough, but with a potential uptick in travel in the coming months and complex bookings on the horizon, it could pay to get preparations in place.

California was ahead of the curve when it consolidated its travel program in 2010. That decision is paying off during the pandemic as it quickly reacted to housing at-risk healthcare workers, and its effectiveness may prompt other states to follow suit once the crisis passes.

Whether it's Zoom, FaceTime or VR, it's essential that hotels continue offering site visits to travel managers and meetings planners to plan for growth in the coming months.

Any future messaging will need to deliver on the promises, otherwise airlines risk losing loyalty in the long term.

Airbus' decision to launch a new product in the middle of a crisis might seem strange, but travel buyers, corporations and airlines will likely be receptive to anything that can help insure them against suffering such big losses again.

The hunt is on for a silver bullet that rubber stamps an employee's immunity to Covid-19. Only then will corporations be able to kickstart their business travel.