‘Get used to Zoom’: Companies to scale back on travel for good
THE Covid-19 crisis has not quite killed off the business trip as was predicted, but it has triggered a reset of corporate travel policies with more emphasis on the environment and employee wellbeing.
Many large companies have committed to less business travel, including Pfizer, Hersheys and Deutsche Bank.
Surprisingly perhaps, the
Global Business Travel Association’s Australia and New Zealand director Tony O’connor thinks those companies are on the right track.
Despite representing agencies that book business travel, Mr O’connor said the pandemic had forced a muchneeded rethink of work trips.
“Prior to the pandemic, the travel policy was something of a dormant document, a policy that was only revisited every few years or so,” he said.
“Now it’s going to be much more active, constantly updated. This really is our opportunity to rebuild better and cut travel right down to make it more efficient and to reduce its (environmental) damage.”
He said the amount of business travel in 2019 had reached almost unsustainable levels, as people travelled simply because they could.
Post-covid, Mr O’connor expected that the greater expense involved in travel, a growing awareness of the environmental impact, plus the toll on workers’ themselves, would prove significant deterrents.
“What we will see is companies travelling to grow their business, to meet new clients and establish relationships, which they haven’t had a lot of opportunities to do,” he said.
“But internal meetings will probably remain on Zoom.”
Australian general manager of corporate travel company FCM, Melissa Elf, said they were expecting a 20 per cent reduction in business travel.
“Our customers are certainly telling us they need to get back on planes but there’s more awareness now of the importance of looking after their people and the need for sustainable travel,” Ms Elf said.
She said some firms were adopting a “carbon budget” in the place of a travel budget, with travel measured in carbon emissions rather than dollars.
“That means they’re switching to more sustainable suppliers in terms of hotels, car hires, airlines,” Ms Elf said.
Corporate Travel Management managing director Jamie Pherous said the demand for sustainable travel was strong, and being seen as responsible was becoming as important as a company’s balance sheet.