Business Travel Executive, July/August 2020

41 Business Travel Executive askBTE com July August 2020 A Whole New Bag of Tricks While the events of Sept 11 2001 and the intervening decades have spurred improvements in tracking traveler software and communication methods as well as the rise of risk management providers like ISOS and WorldAware COVID 19 has proved a total black swan The swift movement of the virus and its immediate impact left many organizations unable to respond effectively Going forward travel management will once more have to refocus its attention on traveler safety Travel managers should refine the methods through which traveler information is received and communicated back to travelers This might include stepped up requirements read mandates to book travel through approved channels greater communication about the risk of travel both in general and specifically to hotspot locations and clear guidance on the procedures travelers should follow when they become ill whether before during or after a trip Alongside this renewed emphasis on safety travel managers should review their organizations travel policy and consider instituting a temporary or pandemic policy highlighting the short term changes required to meet the challenges of the current travel environment Examples of temporary policy changes could include Directives to consult CDC and state health department websites for destination information before planning travel Mandates to check with airlines for specific requirements such as the wearing of masks and checking the TSA website for changes in security checkpoint procedures Statements on expense reimbursement for personal protection equipment room service meals and food delivery services Additional areas to be addressed in temporary policies include treatment of travelers in high risk categories travel to highly impacted areas and protocols when travelers become ill The policy should also emphasize using unused air tickets first Last the policy should offer traveler safety suggestions such as to avoid elevators if possible sanitize certain high risk surfaces in hotel rooms and rental cars and avoid mass transit Post COVID the industry will see smaller airlines fewer hotels reduced rental car availability and fewer travel management companies In short existing agreements may not meet current needs This reality will require travel managers to re examine preferred supplier relationships and conduct some maybe many sourcing exercises Here are signs and situations travel managers should look for The merger acquisition or bankruptcy of a supplier It is important to ask whether the newly constituted supplier will be able to meet your organizations needs Do they have the personnel to manage your account Can they deliver the level of service you and your travelers expect Will they continue to invest in technology The new route structures and pricing of airlines Once more it is critical to look at the supplier not as they once existed but as they exist today Do contracted airlines still meet the demands of your organization Have your travel patterns changed Are flight frequencies adequate to meet traveler requirements How competitive are primary routes following the airline shifts Airfares are likely to increase due to increased costs consider whether to source in response to increased prices The existence of fewer hotels reduced hotel demand and volatile rates More and more companies are warming to dynamic pricing as a way to take advantage of rate fluctuations Evaluate whether you should follow suit Also ask whether rate caps should be negotiated in high volume locations and whether it is worth negotiating last room availability While this is not a time to take advantage of hoteliers it is a time to negotiate a win win program for 2021 and beyond New meeting requirements and support necessary for those meetings It seems most travel and meeting managers agree Meeting technologies such as Zoom Google Meets and Microsoft Teams work well and can replace some meeting requirements It would however be naïve to think face to face meetings will disappear from business Going forward consider whether you have the best meeting software to handle your meetings Will meetings be smaller with more modest requirements Will different venues be more appropriate from those used previously Will budgets change Will meeting sponsors be looking for different results than in the past Continue to ask these questions periodically as the current environment evolves to stay on top of shifts A new landscape for car rentals and requirements It is likely there will be fewer rental car providers in the new travel environment Suppliers that remain will likely have fewer cars to rent The travel manager should analyze data and ask Is my existing provider still in business Do they have the cars to meet my organizations demand in the locations important to us Has our policy changed to encourage use of rental cars for trips where air travel may have been the best option previously Is it time to source rental car to ensure our needs are met There are of course many more questions to be asked and still others which have yet to be thought of will emerge over time Some questions are particular to a certain organization its culture and its current mixture of preferred suppliers Travel managers need to examine their programs determine the best opportunities for improvement and begin the process of making any necessary changes now Some will be temporary such as policy while other changes will be permanent Now is the time for travel managers to seize the opportunity to use their expertise and be a champion for their travelers and their organizations Mark Williams serves as the Managing Director Americas for Nina Pinta joining the consultancy in April 2020 to help expand its global footprint and presence in the Americas He previously served as a partner with GoldSpring Consulting and before that was a Principal at Advito the consulting division of BCD Travel Before Advito he held roles in the Business Transformation Outsourcing practice at IBM Mark started in the travel industry in the late 1980s with WorldTravel Partners followed by 10 years as the Director of Travel for Price Waterhouse and PricewaterhouseCoopers n