GUEST BLOG: Risks to Business Traveller Safety in 2020

According to the recent Business Resilience Trends Watch, 51% of respondents believe that health and security risks to business travel have increased in the past year. With concerns running high, it’s not surprising that many travel managers have expressed the need to change itineraries in 2020. 

Late last year, International SOS, the world’s leading medical and travel security services company, released their Travel Risk Outlook for 2020. Below, I unpack each risk and offer recommendations for travel managers to mitigate against them.

1.     Risks borne from geopolitical shifts 

The US Presidential election in 2020 will undoubtably influence the geopolitical trade industry with many nations. In Europe, political and social unrest runs a high risk as the Brexit outcome solidifies. Businesses must plan to ensure travellers are educated on changes to their free movement between nations, and gain access to the relevant travel documents ahead of time.

2.     Mental health issues 

Traveller wellbeing will be prioritised in 2020, with mental health listed as a higher risk to traveller safety than physical health for the first time since the release of this report. Helpful advice on reducing the stress of business travel can be found on CTM’s website to help improve mental health while on the road.

3.     Physical health

While mental health is gaining importance, physical health is still a key consideration when ensuring traveller wellbeing. Travel managers can help support physical health through hotel selection, focusing on brands and properties that offer fitness centres or healthy menus. Read more about Incorporating wellbeing into your travel policy.

4.     Cybercrime 

The cost of cyber-crime globally is expected to exceed $2 trillion this year, while data breaches can cost the average company around $US3.8 million¹. In 2020, it is increasingly important for business travellers to take precautionary measures to ensure no personal or company data is vulnerable to hackers. You can find tips for ensuring data security when travelling for business here.

5.     Climate change

The impact of Climate Change is an increasingly important concern for travel managers when ensuring duty of care. This is where travel technology such as tracking functionality can help, by identifying travellers in areas of risk and communicating with them instantly.

6.     Infectious disease outbreaks 

Another impact of climate change, along with increasing urbanisation, diminishing vaccination coverage and security instability, is risk of infectious diseases. While predominantly an issue for those travelling to developing nations, businesses should be aware of vaccination requirements and hygiene standards across their supplier list.

7.     'Bleisure' travel

Listed as a ‘grey zone’ of travel risk, blesiure travel and its implications for duty of care is highly relevant for European-bound travellers. Travel managers will need to ensure clear outlines on insurance parameters are included in employee contracts and advise when additional coverage may be required at the employees’ expense.

8.     Millennials and Generation Z 

Bringing a new set of values and expectations to the industry, Millennial and Gen Z travellers will push businesses to evolve their risk strategies. New policies will have to account for changing travel behaviours, including experiential components and a focus on longer stays at smaller costs.

9.     High profile Duty of Care legal cases

Expected to increase in 2020, businesses must ensure their travel policies are updated regularly to ensure duty of care obligations are met. This includes investing in travel technology that can help mitigate risk, educating employees about risks and communicating with employees during a crisis to name a few.

10. Start-ups and SMEs 

Often under-resourced and inexperienced SME businesses can struggle to meet duty of care obligations without proper guidance from a TMC. Virtual Account Management solutions can help small businesses access all the benefits of a customised travel programme, delivered and supported via phone and online support.

This post was written by Richard Ware, Senior Business Development Manager, CTM Europe. He will be attending the Business Travel Show, which takes place on 26-27 February 2020 at Olympia London.

You can register for a free visitor pass at www.businesstravelshow.com and book a meeting with Richard and CTM at https://info.travelctm.co.uk/business-travel-show-2020-book-a-meeting-with-ctm

GUEST BLOG: Why SMEs should demand more from their travel programme

For many companies, business travel is a regular requirement and essential to success. But do you understand the true cost of travel to your business? Are you paying the price of a poor travel strategy? If you are struggling with your travel programme, you’re not alone. Many of our clients come to us feeling daunted because they don’t have a strategy in place or they want to build a better travel programme that can help save them money. This is where the support of an account management team can help SME clients demand more from their travel spend by identifying more savings and providing greater insights into their overall travel programme.

More savings

Are you saving as much money as you could on hotel rates, for example? Where is the biggest part of your budget going and in which locations? By consolidating hotel spend via bespoke negotiated hotel rates, our account managers can save our clients 15% on average in the first year of their hotel programme. They also analyse where employees are staying, group bookings and length of stay. If a client has 100 room/night bookings or more a year, then there is huge potential for us to negotiate major savings. By establishing strategic partnerships with hotels, an account manager can resolve ad-hoc issues and will also have the inside scoop on waivers and favours, such as room upgrades.

More insight

When you consider all the different variables of booking travel - different hotel room rates, flexibility of air fares, online booking vs over the phone, how far ahead you can book - achieving a smooth process - while catering for every individual – is no mean feat, and you’ll need to be on top of everything to make it work. Your account manager is an expert in interpreting data. With their reports to hand, you’ll be able to evaluate your booking patterns to see where bookings can be made further ahead, in a different class of travel or on a more flexible rate. Invaluable insights like these will ensure you continue making the right decisions for both your employees and your travel budget.

More duty of care

Insight isn’t just about saving money.  It’s also about the importance of staying connected with your employees when they are on the move, to ensure their safety and wellbeing is being considered. Again this is where an account managers can provide support, for example by evaluating your travel programme and helping you judge if your travellers’ wellbeing would benefit from cabin upgrades; or implementing Traveller Location Mapping so that you know exactly where your people are; or recommending implementation of the new chatbot interfaced mobile app for business travellers that we are unveiling at the Business Travel Show.

Strategic advice is invaluable, but one plan doesn’t fit all, so it makes sense to demand more when it comes to insights, savings and service around your business travel programme.

This blogpost was written by Andy Hegley, UK General Manager, Corporate Traveller (www.corptraveller.co.uk). Visit stand B30 for demonstrations of 'Sam' – the company’s new chatbot and AI integrated mobile app supporting SME travellers on the move.