Safety key, says HWBT study

THE safety and wellbeing of travellers is the top priority for company travel programs in a post-COVID world, according to a new survey of Helloworld Business Travel (HWBT) clients.

The results of the poll were circulated by HWBT member Reho Travel, noting “priorities in travel programs have been turned on their head in recent months,” with cost savings coming in third place in terms of key issues for customers, behind traveller health, the wellbeing of those with whom travellers interact, and supplier hygiene practices.

Although there was an acceptance among those surveyed that it may take some time for travel to return to 2019 levels, more than a third of HWBT clients are predicting no change in the amount they expect to travel internationally, while some are even forecasting an increase.

The survey also looked at the changes that travellers would like to see before they travel again, with the top answer (40%) being “certainty that air, hotel and car companies are managing sanitation and disinfection well”.

More than a third of travellers are looking for clear government guidelines that it is safe to travel, while an interesting outcome was that 10% of road warriors would like to have “a choice between travelling or not”.

Several respondents said they were not willing to travel overseas if it involved quarantine requirements.

The survey asked travel managers about their perceptions of the most important services provided by a Travel Management Company (TMC) post-COVID, with the top priority being “identifying and negotiating with suppliers that have best practice with health and hygiene policies”.

That was closely followed by TMCs providing an advisory service for government travel and health policies, such as visas, border controls, quarantine and inoculations.