Business travel should be looking to resume soon, domestically at least, if not internationally. What should be expected with the return of business travel?
Social distancing and prebooking
As assumed, social distancing is likely to continue for quite a while, both in the workplace and during leisure times. It’s assumed that travellers, whether they are travelling for work or for other reasons, will be required to distance themselves from others and wear relevant PPE (for example, a face mask) on all means of public transport, including aircrafts.
It’s recommended that business travel is booked ahead and carefully considered beforehand. Hotels and rental accommodation will require more notice for bookings as they will want to carefully sanitise the space before and after use. This might result in later check-in times.
For those who want to avoid unnecessary public contact by having their own space, but still enjoy the luxuries of staying in a hospitality environment whilst working away, serviced apartments in busy cities like London will provide clean, safe, and comfortable living whilst on business.
The possibility of vaccine passports
For international travel, there has been talks of a ‘vaccine passport’ which will allow those with the Covid-19 vaccine to travel. There are many arguments for and against this as for some people, getting the vaccine isn’t suitable (for example, if they have allergies to any of the components in the vaccine) and some might be waiting a while before they receive their vaccine due to being lower down on the priority list.
However, the benefits of this passport will be that everyone who flies will have been vaccinated and are less likely to spread or contract any illness.
Continuation of remote meetings
Businesses will be encouraged to continue conducting remote meetings via platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom where possible. As many businesses have been able to prove that they can work remotely and conduct important business meetings from the comfort of their home office, they may consider continuing to do so as it will save on any risk to members of staff and save the business thousands of pounds in air travel and accommodation.
The downside of remote meetings is that there are many different time zones around the world and, depending on the severity of the meeting, it might be easier and seem more professional to conduct it face to face in person.
It is expected by BTN Europe that business travel will resume to around 75% in 2022.
