Employee Experience
On-demand Webcast | Ready, set, jet! Tools you need to prepare employees for the new era of travel
Although the effects of the pandemic continued to be felt in 2022, the good news is the long road back to travel seems to be getting shorter. After months of asking “can we, can’t we” with COVID-19, Canadian business travellers are finally seeing the light at the end of the runway and crossing their fingers travel is here to stay.
But while companies are slowly returning to business travel, many workers are dusting off their passports for the first time and trying to figure out how to navigate this new travel landscape. The question remains: how will businesses alleviate the stress and help ensure their road warriors get back to the joys of travel?
In SAP Concur’s latest webinar, Brian Veloso (Managing Director, SAP Concur Canada) dug into the latest insights around the return back to travel and was joined by experts Greg Owen (Associate Director, Toronto Pearson International Airport) and Tasha Anglin (Accounting Team Lead, Baylis Medical Company Inc). The conversation kicked off with a discussion around the top challenges plaguing businesses in the return to corporate travel. According to Tasha, who manages her company’s corporate travel program, the top three painpoints she sees are:
- Navigating the uncertainty around ongoing changes to travel rules and regulations
- Identifying the right mode of transportation (e.g., should employees fly or drive their personal car?)
- Securing rental cars due to the ongoing car rental shortage
While there are a few roadblocks to navigate, Tasha says employees want to go back in the air. Employees want to network, feel fulfilled, and exchange new ideas. While working remotely has been successful, Tasha says travel adds a balance that helps employees perform better because they have time away from their typical work routine.
But corporate travel isn’t just good for travellers, it’s also necessary for a healthy economy as well. According to Greg, a third of the people going through any major Canadian airport travelled for business during pre-pandemic era. From supporting local businesses, to making up a large portion of the global GDP, the importance of tourism on the economy is simply massive.
The speakers recommended tactical tools businesses can adopt to ensure a smooth return to corporate travel for employees.
Tasha and Brian shared the importance of using tools like Concur Travel and Tripit to successfully streamline business travel processes to face new travel realities including to manage airfare, hotels, and car bookings. Tasha shared that by using Concur Travel, she gets visibility into how long in advance employees are booking their flight, which translates into cost savings for the company, overall. And while travel restrictions related to COVID-19 continue to vary greatly and constantly change, TripIt’s COVID-19 travel guidance features give users the latest COVID-19 travel guidelines, restrictions, and requirements for the destinations they’re planning to visit to make travel less stressful.
To close out the discussion, the panelists discussed what the future of travel could hold.
Greg anticipates the travel industry could slowly return to normal over the next 6-12 months, barring any unforeseen COVID-19 disruptions. There will also be a new reality facing corporate travellers; fliers should expect security process times to take longer than usual and less frequency of flights heading to destinations compared to pre-pandemic levels. Patience and preparation will be key, and travellers will need to buffer in time to plan and plan well bearing in mind that travelling is going to take longer than it did before COVID-19.
To hear more insights about the Great Resignation and what you can do to keep your employees happy in 2022, watch the full webinar on-demand: Watch Now
