The pandemic has meant that businesses have had to adapt the way that they work in a lot of ways over the last couple of years. Most companies will have introduced remote or hybrid ways of working and client and customer meetings have had to be held via video chat. Business travel dropped significantly, but this year, we are beginning to see changes. Traveller confidence is growing steadily with businesses and employees showing that they are ready to get back to meeting clients face to face. Now would be a great time to put a corporate travel management plan into place so that you are ready to get back on the road as soon as possible.
A Sense of Clarity
With the ever-changing nature of the pandemic, booking trips was risky with the potential of countries not allowing in passengers from overseas, the talk of red lists and vaccine passports. Going into 2022, travel companies are suggesting that passengers are slowly growing in confidence when it comes to getting back international travel. With more clarity on travel guidance and traveller safety, this year could be the year that you get back to meeting your clients and suppliers on a face-to-face basis, rather than on a screen.
Domestic travel
It has been a little easier to meet clients sporadically throughout the last couple of years if they are based in the same country. Whilst it’s not as difficult to travel internally, it is often at the prerogative of your business or your client. Travelling via train to meetings has been allowed, but it is not surprising that some employees would not have been comfortable with that during the pandemic. Research suggests that more of us are willing to travel domestically soon. But employers may not be ready to take a chance just yet due to uncertainty.
Face to Face
Having the tools to communicate with clients and customers from overseas has been priceless over the last two years. Video chats and virtual meetings have allowed us to keep in touch and continue to update our clients as necessary. In 2022, you may not have to try and make a good impression through a screen any longer. Video chats and online conferences are great tools to bring people together virtually, but sometimes technical problems can cause problems and misunderstandings can occur that would not if the meeting was taking place physically.
Business Travel Management
With business travel set to be on the increase, now would be the perfect time to consider how you manage your business travel expenses. To help you do this you could explore specialist software to help you keep track of your spending when you’re out and about, or even better, there are different companies that offer you a package to help organise and book your business trips. If you don’t have a business credit card, now is the time to apply. Spending directly onto a business credit card alleviates the stress of reimbursements. What are you waiting for?
