Even now, as pockets of the industry trend towards recovery, the business travel landscape continues to shift and evolve. In preparation for a return to some normality, business and suppliers are reframing their priorities, processes and procedures.
It is clear that uncertainty will remain for some time, however companies that can adapt more quickly to the new business models post COVID-19 will be well positioned to get back to business sooner.
Business models will be made up of a combination of the virtual world, more companies extending working from home policies, WFH, a reduction in spending on office space, coupled with the traditional face to face world we have all been accustomed to pre-pandemic.
Virtual meetings have certainly enabled business momentum over the last several months which have also brought various benefits; the realisation that companies can function with smaller office spaces, the positive environmental impact on carbon footprint right down to not having to think about finding a free meeting room.
Nonetheless, there are various drawbacks also that can impact business engulfed in this virtual world momentum. Reliability on network connection can be a challenge in certain markets and personally speaking, engaging with numerous clients and suppliers across the MEA region is not always straightforward experience. Connectivity is slow, lost and intermittent, leading to several meetings having to be cancelled, rescheduled and content repeated.
“As for ‘zoom fatigue’, JP Morgan Chase, American Airlines and Microsoft CEOs are all recently quoted highlighting the problems with virtual technology, “creative combustion”, “awful”, and “transactional”. There’s no real culture being felt on zoom calls and creativity is lacking, the clock is always being watched so as not to be late for the next call.
While reports state that company productivity is not impacted, currently, as people are working longer hours, and ‘have to jump off now and go on another conference call’ many believe there will be a burn out from staff attending too many virtual meetings and glued to their screens having accepted an overload of virtual invites.
There seems to be a trend for attendees switching their cameras to off mode than at the start of the pandemic. This trend is making the C-Suite and others question just how much attendees are actually concentrating or listening during these calls. Attendees in various forums have admitted to taking a shower, cooking lunch or dinner, talking to the delivery guy at the door as their online orders arrive while on a conference call and using the time to check emails.
While there may be valid reasons at times for the above, they can also prevent audiences from really engaging, building relationships, trust, creating motivation and reading the usual body language indicators to assess engagement and understanding key messages from participants. All of which are critical elements to successful partnerships and business success.
Without the ability to read body language, a crucial form of communication, we miss important elements to conversations that can positively or negatively impact a business.
One FCM client recently quoted that while they are retaining a lot of their business with current vendors, they are struggling to win new clients. Many suppliers are not always ready to sign a new contract or as quick to sign, with a new company they have never actually met or had a chance to visit and experience their offering in a live environment.
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Corporate travel is an investment in the individual as well as for the organisation
Thus, before we start to believe WFH and the virtual world is the ‘new norm’, we ought to remember the importance of face to face meetings that are facilitated through business travel as a key method to build rapport, relationships and trust, go with our gut feelings and the general likeability we build with people which many have not yet mastered in the virtual world when pitching from scratch with someone you have never met in person.
“The virtual world has been the saviour for many companies but the longer term need to travel within the Middle East region and longer-haul is an important step to business travel recovery”.
Travel procurement teams in the Middle East reported within our recent survey that whilst travel in their business had reduced, they were still busy in their roles managing the interpretation of airline and hotel supply changes over the recent months.
Internal travel program changes were noted across client procurement teams relating to travel policy, reporting, traveller tracking, updating and educating travellers on key important areas.
Many companies realise this and have actually been preparing for the future of living with COVID-19 for the unforeseeable future. The level of RFP activity since March 2020 for many Travel Management Companies from a regional and global perspective has been booming despite the slowdown in travel.
In order to have a hybrid business model in the future of WFH and face to face it’s important for the C-Suite to ensure they are working with a travel agency than can offer their services seamlessly 24/7, has a global footprint of support in other countries to help their travellers which is also backed up with the technology that helps minimise disruption to their journey.
This spike in requests from travel buyers seeking advice on many areas that we specialise in such as consolidating travel programs across countries, expertise in traveller safety, advance reporting capabilities, mobile app support, online and offline technology and providing up-to-date information from government regulations, to traveller pre-requisites and travel policy approval systems to help control budgets is what has been keeping our sales, implementation and account managers at FCM Travel Solutions engaged and occupied over the last several months.
Business travel still has many champions who adamantly believe going the extra mile forms closer professional connections and ultimately leads to higher net profit. Our customers are willing to get back in the sky again, when they can and travel to their usual destinations and the level of future bookings, we have in place currently, albeit obviously lower than this time last year, are the highest we have seen since March 2020.
Who are these travellers? CEOs, C-Suite and those that travel for sales and client-related meetings have been the first to return to the skies as borders open.
It’s obvious that pre-COVID-19 business travel levels will take a while to return to the same level, but we forecast an acceleration at some point in the region, as businesses will face increased pressure to win and retain business among key clients after peers begin travelling again.
The evidence has been documented already from previous global events, such as the impact of 9/11 and the global financial crisis in 2008. Those CEOs that decided not to stop business travel within their organisations, meet suppliers, customers and staff, grew their profit levels and became stronger than those that stopped business trips and enforced strict no fly policies.CEOs should be looking to implement a combination of virtual technology, WFH and face to face strategies to ensure the success of their business.
Reducing office space environments will help drive costs down as will deciding on what is considered a necessary business trip reason. Reinvesting such savings and setting it aside for face to face meetings to build better relationships and close deals will no doubt offer return on investment as closed deals and conversion rates increase.
Business travel will continue to play an important role in a company’s strategy and growth
Even after workers feel safe to meet in offices again after the coronavirus pandemic, virtual meetings can still be a useful tool for quick and easy interactions for businesses of any size.
Personally, I’d rather invest 2-3 days on a business trip meeting fellow colleagues, clients or prospective customers on the same time zone, in the same room, and trying their local food and learning more about their culture rather than attending several zoom calls.
Business travel will continue to play an important role in a company’s strategy and growth, despite the virtual world we have found ourselves submerged in due to COVID-19. While video and conference calls are important in today’s world, when it’s time to sign a new contract, close a deal, those companies that take to the skies usually end up winning the contract.
There are many factors that influence success, whatever the form of measuring that success maybe, but no matter what we may believe, most business decisions we make are the direct result of a beneficiary’s likability and that choice really comes from the gut. The majority of us all want to be surrounded by people, customers and suppliers whose company we enjoy, and the best way to discover them is to meet them face-to-face.
It’s evident that corporate travel is far from an unnecessary cost. It’s an investment for the individual and the organisation, and when you invest in it wisely, it’s one that’s almost certain to pay off.
Our industry however also has an important role to play itself to boost the confidence of our clients and their travellers. We need to be able to reassure them that face to face meetings are safe, equip them with the necessary support, information, technology and protocols which will instil trust and stability.