Travel Management Beyond Covid-19

Credit: Global Guardian

It's difficult to peg the Covid-19 pandemic in a moment in time. Its march—surging and now resurging throughout Europe, the United States and South America—is a continuous exercise in testing and reporting catching up to infections that already have happened, days or even weeks in the past. As an industry, the travel sector can only chase this number and mitigate with cleaning and capacity protocols and by adjusting operations and services to meet demand that is dwindling and accelerating in erratic waves. A global snapshot of Covid-19 infection rates is pictured above, courtesy of travel safety and security firm Global Guardian. It speaks volumes on its own and is likely to change radically on a market-by-market basis throughout the fall and winter months.

Aside from trying to understand infection rates in each market, government-imposed border policies are another frustrating factor for the industry. As of BTN's Nov. 2 press time, renewed lockdowns and curfews had been announced in Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain in the past week. Headlines at BTN Europe read ‘Confusion and Concern over International Travel.' Meanwhile, our North America website read ‘Looking for a Bubble: Carriers Explore Routes Around Quarantine Requirements.'

The effects of Covid-19 on our industry and the efforts to maneuver through the devastation are well documented in this State of the Industry issue. You'll read about travel suppliers working through immense operational and financial challenges. You'll read about travel buyers pivoting their job responsibilities, becoming incredibly strategic partners for their organizations on the remote working reality, safe return-to-office strategies and redesigning business travel to support critical relationships. You'll read about new policies for travelers, a transformative focus on travel safety and security and keen observations about how travel buyers and suppliers will move through the pandemic in business travel partnership. 

The Even Bigger Picture 

As the industry grapples with immediate survival issues, dialogue also has begun around what managed travel will look like once Covid-19 challenges subside. Our industry conversation is beginning to touch on some of the major issues affecting our lives and world, which now also may critically affect how business travel strategy and travel management practices will be configured moving forward. The Covid-19 crisis has inflamed long-simmering geopolitical friction; laid bare diversity, equity and human rights issues; and underscored the effects of travel on climate change even as it largely suspended that activity. 

Three-quarters of travel managers surveyed in BTN's State of the Industry research said such issues would be material in how they piece their travel programs back together and in how their organizations would conduct future business travel. Advance to the sections below to read more about each issue.