Consequences for corporate travel beyond COVID-19 crisis
Businesses have had to cope with a lot of changes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Where possible, employees have been working from home. Where this isn’t an option, companies have been operating with a skeleton staff to help keep everyone safe.
For many companies, one of the biggest changes they’ve made is a complete cessation of business travel. Almost overnight, people stopped travelling for meetings and conferences and most communication moved online.
As the lockdown begins to be eased and the world starts to open up again, a lot of companies will be thinking about how to tackle corporate travel in a post-COVID-19 era. The pandemic is guaranteed to have some long-lasting consequences and it’s likely that business travel will change for good.
When will corporate travel resume?
While it’s probable that some business travel will resume in the near future, large scale travel is unlikely to happen any time soon.
As @travelperk says, “There are multiple factors that will influence travel such as whether social distancing on planes is economically viable for carriers, the reliability of antibody tests, and if immunity is lasting, to name but a few.”
For the short term, it’s likely that only those who really need to travel for business will get on a plane or train and visit their destination in person. Most people will continue to use video conferencing and other high tech solutions to keep their companies going.
Fewer short trips
In the post-COVID-19 world, travel is probably going to be less straightforward. It’s likely that passengers will have to undergo temperature checks at airports and that details will be checked carefully to see if a person has recently been to a high-risk area.
Passengers travelling to some countries will have to quarantine for up to 14 days while others will have to provide authorities with access to their phone’s GPS data. These complications are likely to put a lot of people off travelling for business altogether.
More long stays
With travel between countries set to take longer and be more complicated, it’s likely that most of the people travelling for business will be going on longer stays.
Those who do travel for work will likely be staying in their destination for a few weeks or months. For these types of business travellers, the inconvenience of flying in a post-COVID-19 world will be less of an issue.
Better accommodation
People travelling for work are likely to demand a higher standard of accommodation. With a new lockdown order possible at any point, no one wants to be stuck in a cramped hotel room or substandard apartment.
High-quality accommodation is also likely to be cleaner and more hygienic, something that will make travellers feel more secure.
Our own accommodation is now safe, sanitized, and legal – so you can feel comfortable staying with us. We are adhering to all Government safety standards and as always, have prioritised the health and wellbeing of our clients in the properties we offer.
If you’re looking for high-quality temporary accommodation in the Cambridge area, we can help. Get in touch with a member of our team to find out more.