The findings of FCM Travel Solutions’ second ‘State of the Market’ study have been released, and reveal the following:
- Travel bookings through a Travel Management Company (TMC) are important for corporate travellers post-COVID-19, with 21% of respondents saying that they would not shift to higher levels of online booking adoption;
- Traveller and supplier health and hygiene factors are a top priority post-COVID-19 for 59% of participants;
- Duty of care obligations ranked the second most dominant area for change, for 44% of respondents;
- Easing or lifting border restrictions was the highest ranked reason companies would resume business travel, with 93% of respondents saying it has significant or some impact;
- The second highest ranked reason to resume business travel was that a company deems it safe to travel, and that this is reflected in its travel policy (89%).
Duty of care obligations ranked the second most dominant area for change, for 44% of respondents.
A total 1,600 business travel managers, bookers and travellers responded to the survey, representing both FCM’s multinational large-scale clients and Corporate Traveller’s SME customers from around the world – in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia, the Americas, India, Australia and New Zealand.
The latest study was conducted in June, a month after the first study, in order to gauge any shift in clients’ business travel intentions as lockdown and restriction rules evolve in each country.
Based on these findings, FCM is ramping up its duty of care support for customers. This includes the launch of Traveller Hub, an interactive resource with up-to-date COVID-19 travel information.
Based on these findings, FCM is ramping up its duty of care support for customers. This includes the launch of Traveller Hub, an interactive resource with up-to-date COVID-19 travel information. Users can quickly search by supplier category, country or region for the latest news on border restrictions, as well as airline routes and safety procedures for travellers, hotel re-openings and hygiene measures, rail travel and car hire announcements, and local social distancing rules.
In addition, Traveller Hub will provide tips, FAQs and useful links to help customers plan their next trip safely. A live interactive map by travel safety specialist Sitata will highlight areas to avoid, as well as data on COVID-19 cases and recovery rates per country. And if a user still has questions, they can turn to the AI conversation-based messaging tool for live chats.
“[A]lthough there is an increasing sense of our clients needing and wanting to travel, the world is an increasingly unpredictable place, so the health and safety of business travellers are, more than ever before, at the top of the corporate agenda.”
The Traveller Hub is fully integrated within FCM Hub, the gateway to the TMC’s suite of technology solutions. It can also be accessed via Sam, the AI-based mobile app used by both FCM and clients’ business travellers.
Bonnie Smith, GM of FCM (pictured), says, “As the world is collectively going through a crisis, it is essential to understand the emotions, fears and underlying motivations of employees and clients. The second poll of our State of the Market survey showed that although there is an increasing sense of our clients needing and wanting to travel, the world is an increasingly unpredictable place, so the health and safety of business travellers are, more than ever before, at the top of the corporate agenda. We are therefore even more focussed on giving clients the best possible support and resources in this respect and are excited to announce the launch of Traveller Hub.”
