YOUR GOOD HEALTH!

It’s time to turn talk about traveller wellbeing into action. Blue Cube Travel recommends a holistic approach

Corporate travel, like any other industry sector, sees buzzwords emerge when an aspect of business travel becomes a trending topic. The latest of these is “traveller wellbeing” and reflects increasing awareness of mental health, not just where travel is concerned, but in all walks of life.

For the last two years, wellbeing has been debated at business travel events and discussed in meetings, yet with little measurable output. Companies are more aware that they should consider the mental health, exhaustion and stress levels of their travelling employees, but turning talk into action and making practical changes to travel programmes has yet to become mainstream.

But that is about to change in 2020, according to Blue Cube Travel. “We are expecting to see a significant industry shift this year in terms of corporates defining traveller wellbeing and introducing manageable ways of monitoring it,” says Blue Cube’s co-founder and Director, Mel Phaure.

“It’s a real positive that everyone is talking about

wellbeing, but TMCS and corporates now need to work together to ensure practical measures are put in place. Some larger corporates are leading the way with wellbeing programmes but a lot of organisations, particularly SMES, don’t know what they need to do to address traveller wellbeing. There is clearly an opportunity for TMCS to guide clients and provide support,” she explains.

Blue Cube takes a holistic approach to advising clients on how best to monitor wellbeing with practical tips on how to engage and educate their travellers via policy. The TMC also runs reports and dashboards to analyse the amount and type of travel that clients’ staff have completed, including rest-time between trips. Blue Cube consultants’ expertise covers a whole range of subjects including exercise and supplements, travel and country advice as well as advice for vulnerable travellers. In addition, all Blue Cube staff have undertaken mental health awareness training with specialist consultancy, Simpila.

The TMC has also identified five ways to help clients address traveller wellbeing more effectively. This includes regular ‘Fit to Travel’ pre- and post-trip reviews with individual travellers; evaluating previous trips in terms of business success – if business trips aren’t delivering results then perhaps your travellers could reduce the frequency of their trips; and giving travellers the opportunity to give feedback on the service they receive from suppliers – did they have a bad experience at check-in? Did they feel safe in a particular hotel location?

“Every traveller is an individual with different coping mechanisms. Introducing wellbeing guidelines based on data is a good start, but travel is personal, so decisions that broadly address wellbeing may not suit each person,” says Mel Phaure. “That’s why we take a bespoke approach to providing advice on wellbeing, safety and duty of care. In an age when there are several generations of employees across organisations, a strong communications plan needs to be in place that suits company culture and connects with individual travellers.”