Business Travel Executive, October/November 2020

T I TRENDS INSIGHTS SR SPECIAL REPORT booking process to enable more confident traveler buying decisions Travel management companies she explains will need to provide businesses with seamless integrated travel insights and intelligence spanning government health and travel advice quarantine measures and sophisticated risk management tools including traveler tracking and emergency communications to enable businesses and their employees to travel more safely efficiently and cost effectively Thats also the finding in research from SAP Concur according to senior director of global travel Ralph Colunga Travel managers can expect increased emphasis on duty of care functionality in the future booking tools he says Our study found that ensuring personal health and safety is most important to business travelers and 65 percent place it in their top three considerations Travel providers are reworking their duty of care strategy to accommodate this reality For example were expanding SAP Concurs duty of care partner network to give travelers assurance that their safety expectations are being met But as a SAP Concur Webinar revealed perhaps the most important ingredient is flexibility The travel manager panel revealed that visibility and flexibility are important Calunga explains As companies plan the return to travel pre approval requirements help monitor all business travel and ensure duty of care Online booking tools that display unused ticket credits also are valuable as travel budgets tighten Additionally flexibility is an OBT differentiator to accommodate changing travel restrictions and health and safety concerns 48 say their senior managers value a managed travel program much more or more than before the COVID 19 pandemic As travel stages a comeback Jason Toothman Travelports head of agency sales Americas and Global Accounts says that The COVID 19 transition will be built on three foundational priorities for the industry These include multisource content retailing excellence and maximizing the value of every trip as well as new tools to allow travel sellers to grow revenue and reduce cost Battle Lines Today the battle is on two fronts First testing is rolling out as an antidote to wanderlust and business crushing quarantine rules although they remain cumbersome slow and costly The second is cutting through the confusion To meet that need Serko CTM Travelport and other travel companies have tools to make order out of chaos enabling road warriors once again to roam about the planet For example CTM adopted ATPCOs Reassurance Universal Product Attributes UPAs gathered from more than 100 airlines globally displaying UPA data on relevant health and safety measures within the flight search results To aid the universal recognition of these different attributes ATPCO Route Happy developed icons signaling what is available during a given trip This includes information for travel suppliers state and country level risk information as well as border requirements and travel restrictions Brady explains This information is critical 16 Business Travel Executive askBTE com October November 2020 to establish traveler confidence and inform confident buying decisions CTM has been able to create global visibility on risk health and safety information within our existing proprietary CTM Portal and Lightning online booking technology within all applicable markets including information for countries which publish state level restrictions Likewise Serko adopted globally standardized information covering airline mask requirements pre boarding temperature checks adjacent seat blockages reduced passenger capacity and enhanced cleaning protocols putting essential information at users fingertips at the time of booking Grafton says Zeno our personalized booking tool also supports many hotel cleanliness rating systems based on the content provider i e GDS Booking com HRS Expedia etc that includes information on enhanced hygiene standards cleaning protocols and social distancing practices Grafton explains The content is dynamically updated so travelers and travel managers can immediately understand what theyll be facing The data makes it easy for travelers to compare different airline measures and helps travel managers to determine which providers meet the safety and traveler well being standards of their travel programs This enhanced information is in addition to the illustrative graphics and messaging around flexible booking food and beverage hygiene clean air circulation Managed Travels Growing Value According to a September Global Business Travel Association survey half of association members say managing travel during the COVID 19 crisis has enhanced their standing inside their organizations Source UniFocus 51 say key corporate stakeholders including human resources or risk management value the managed travel program much more or more than before the COVID 19 pandemic Travel managers have a huge opportunity now to review key program objectives policies and technologies