GUEST BLOG: SHOULD BUSINESS TRAVEL MANAGERS TAKE “PERMANXIETY” SERIOUSLY?

“Permanxiety” is the latest buzzword in the global travel sector. It describes the near-constant state of anxiety felt by travellers; about everything from terrorism to racial tension, Trumpism to technology, and culture wars to climate change. And, according to global travel intelligence platform Skift (who coined the term) there’s a burgeoning belief that it could soon become the world’s new shared social experience.

Traveller anxiety: the new normal?

According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) more than half of business travellers feel that, nowadays, any destination could be high-risk, almost half are worried about terrorist attacks abroad, and over 20% classify North American and Western European countries as only “somewhat safe”.

Meanwhile, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives reports that a third of travel managers are seeing a rise in enquiries about business traveller safety.

Despite these worries, the global travel industry is booming: the GBTA anticipates a rise of more than 6% in corporate travel spend this year and the World Tourism Organisation predicts that, by 2030, five million people will be crossing international borders for leisure, business or other purposes - every single day.

In short, travellers are travelling more. But they are also worrying more about their travels.

Managing worries

Business travel risk management isn’t just about planning for emergencies, it’s also about reducing anxiety, or even 'permanxiety', for travellers. It’s about identifying and mitigating risks associated with every stage of a trip overseas, and helping travellers feel informed about, and supported during, real-time threats.

From pre-travel reports, training and intelligence gathering, to in-country travel tracking and real-time risk alerts, there’s no end of risk management products available to help prepare, inform and locate travellers overseas, and to reduce anxiety.

It’s all about providing access to these products in the most efficient way.  

Meeting expectations

In a recent GBTA survey, 44% of business travellers said they expected their employers to use tools like GPS to locate them in an emergency overseas. And at least two-thirds would expect their company to proactively contact them within two hours of an adverse event abroad.

There is an increasing hunger in the corporate travel sector for joined-up risk mitigation products that provide services like these, in the context of comprehensive risk management programmes; tailored to support travelling employees and meet duty of care obligations. All accessible in one place.

Employers should be able to harness integrated technology that enables them to anticipate employees’ medical and security threats abroad; to know exactly where employees are in relation to threats; and to counteract the dangers. They should be able to prepare staff for every eventuality, giving them access to one-source medical and security advice and emergency assistance, whenever they need it. And they should be able to reduce the anxieties and risks of not having these measures in place.

This post was written by Chris Knight, head of corporate assistance services at CEGA, a Charles Taylor Company and provider of global assistance, travel risk and claims management services.

CEGA and Solace Global Risk are exhibiting their one-source medical and security assistance service INtrinsic at the Business Travel Show on February 20^th and 21^st 2019, Stand B340.  Travel bookers, buyers and managers can register for a free pass here: https://www.businesstravelshow.com/register

www.cegagroup.com       www.solaceglobal.com

GUEST BLOG: REDUCING BUSINESS TRAVEL BURNOUT

Most people associate travel with sunshine, memorable holidays, relaxation and time with their family, but for the community of business travellers scattered across the globe, it’s an altogether different experience. 

Business travel can be gruelling.  A dash to the airport and a quickly written presentation on the plane, followed by a taxi to the hotel or meeting, sandwiches at the conference table for lunch, then finally returning home long after the kids have gone to bed. 

To add to this, a survey by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) found that over the last two years, companies are spending less money on staff upgrades for flights or hotel rooms.

Despite advances in web conferencing, many meetings still take place in person and journeys can be long, particularly when looking at international travel to Asian and Latin American markets. According to tClara, a company dedicated to deliver high-value analyses of corporate travel data, the top 5% of business travellers spend an average of 214 hours on an aeroplane every year. Almost two thirds (65%) of this travel takes place during personal time in the evenings and weekends. This all means that some travellers are away from home for around 2.5 months a year, spending more time traveling for business than on paid annual leave.

It can be of no surprise then, to learn that ‘travel friction’, the wear and tear of regular business travel on employees, has an impact on motivation, morale and employee engagement.

The Airport Lounge as a Sanctuary

That’s why we at Priority Pass recently undertook research to shed new light on the attitudes and demands of frequent flyers. Our research found that six out of ten (59%) frequent business flyers consider access to a premium airport lounge to be an ‘important’ or ‘very important’ factor when selecting an airport, with 40% admitting to going straight to the lounge and avoiding the shops altogether. This corresponded with earlier Priority Pass research findings that three-quarters of frequent business travellers (73%) choose not to stay in 4 or 5 star hotels, but instead look to enhance their trips with other benefits such as concierge services, something that nearly half (46%) see as being essential or nice to have. 

The message from frequent business travellers is clear. A place of sanctuary and a rare moment of tranquillity in a peaceful and convenient environment is increasingly important. More important in fact than the hotel or room waiting for the flyer upon arrival. Many are indeed taking note of this and are exploring different ways of making the travel experience smoother in order to ease traveller burnout and the loss of productivity many employees experience. And the good news is that some good ground is clearly being made. Today, over half (51%) of frequent business flyers actively enjoy the airport experience, a high percentage when you consider the fact that the business flyer is traveling for work purposes and does not have the relaxation of a typical leisure trip to look forward to on arrival.

Life on the Road

Reducing travel burnout is of course wider than the lounge itself. Digital technology is also helping to reduce this friction caused by business travel. Half of European travellers (50%) believe that digital boarding passes and e-tickets make the airport experience much easier, with 41% of frequent business travellers using airport mobile apps. Today’s business travellers are embracing digital technologies thanks to their ability to reduce the stress of travel. Digital tickets, digital membership cards for airport lounges, spas and restaurants and apps that make it easy to look-up destinations all help to provide a more seamless and personalised experience at airports.

I believe that we are today witnessing a turning of the tide, with an increasing number of organisations starting to recognise the value that can be gained if the experience of flying for business is seamless and is supportive of work. As international travel for work becomes more common than ever before, many are starting to realise that it is more than just a perk to allow flyers to arrive refreshed, relaxed and ready to do business. It makes sound commercial sense.

This post was written by Stephen Simpson, Global Marketing Director, Priority Pass. Priority Pass is exhibiting at the Business Travel Show next month - 22-23 February 2017 at Olympia London and is looking forward to discussing business travel trends and how you can support your business travellers at stand B422.Buyers can register for a free visitor pass at www.businesstravelshow.com.