SURPRISE ME!

How Will COVID-19 Change the Face of Business Travel?

MakeMyTrip Blog

Last updated: Jun 1, 2021

Due to multiple lockdowns around the world, businesses found innovative ways to connect with customers and associates. A lot of people argued that the ‘new normal’ of working from home was here to stay. However, according to a Harvard study, business travel leads to economic growth and can’t stop.

Considering that the world is still dealing with a pandemic, companies are taking greater care while planning business travel. Consequently, they are paving the way for a more mindful approach, where business travel planning is contactless, seamless and cheaper. Here’s taking a look at how COVID-19 will change the face of business travel.

Employees Will Be More Involved In Travel Planning

employees will be more involved

Businesses have again started moving towards face-to-face meetings, which means more and more employees will soon start travelling to different cities and countries. However, to stay safe, they would want to exercise more control over business travel management. In simple terms, employees would want more options for direct flights, information on the hotel’s sanitisation protocols, and real-time updates on any cancellations, delays and disruptions.

For these reasons, companies will benefit a lot from employing a business travel management solution that offers them a huge selection of flights and business-friendly hotels, free booking modifications, an instant approval system, and 24-hour on-trip assistance. With such a platform, employees get a chance to share their preferences and be more involved in planning the business trip.

Companies Will Shift to Business Travel Innovations

According to a report, business travel will completely recover by 2025. Until then, sanitisation protocols and social distancing norms will remain in place. Because of this, organisations will have to be aware of business travel innovations that promote contactless experiences to safeguard employee health and welfare.

Similarly, mechanisms would be needed to support new travel documents like vaccine passports that might come into the picture. Innovative travel management tools that offer support via cloud technology, real-time updates, and contactless boarding will become popular. Not only will they help in essential business travel during COVID, but will pave the way people travel for years to come.

Organisations Will Look for 24-hour Customer Support

24-hour customer support

During the times of COVID, travel planning requires assistance - whether it’s about flexible bookings, travel restrictions, insurance, medical assistance, or state and country-based guidelines. To make business travel planning during Coronavirus less tedious, companies will need robust 24-hour customer support. Tying up with a business travel management firm can help with that.

Business Travel May Have Changed Forever, Let's Make it Better!

As we venture into a world still reeling from a pandemic, business travel needs to be more mindful. By putting in a little more thought and utilising available business travel innovations, companies can ensure the safety and welfare of their employees. They can also ensure that they don’t lose out on money if they need to modify bookings or make on-the-go changes to their travel plans.

myBiz, powered by MakeMyTrip, is a business travel management and booking platform that has been designed to make business travel planning effortless. It provides companies with real-time dynamic prices for both hotels and flights, records travel history for a personalised booking experience, and lets employees review bookings, expenses and trip activity from one dashboard.

It offers the simplest way to plan essential business travel during COVID. If you haven’t tried it yet, why not give it a go?

Flexible Bookings Will Become the Norm

flexible bookings

In the past few months, people have had to cancel multiple bookings, which has brought to light the fact that cancellations are time-consuming and frustrating. The reason behind this is that most organisations book business travel from different travel platforms. When they cancel or modify a booking, they’re left with money in different online wallets.

However, post-COVID most companies will be employing an integrated business travel booking and management platform that offers them a large inventory of hotels, flights, buses, cabs, and more. This way, if they were to cancel or modify any booking, they will be able to use the refunds more judicially and quickly. They will also save a substantial amount of money by cutting down unnecessary expenses, getting cheaper booking suggestions, and availing free modifications or discounts. 

Sign up on myBiz!