Companies Grapple with Policies, Procedures for Travel Return
Pre-trip approvals, vaccination requirements, permissive booking policies... what will stay and what will go as business travel returns to business as usual?
Travel managers have spent much of the past two years preparing for a day that, for many, finally appears to be here: the time when their offices reopen, their employees begin traveling again, and they can get back to a professional footing that echoes, if not equals, 2019. But even with two years of preparation, pushing past the Covid-19 pandemic can be an intricate process, particularly as internal and external rules and regulations change.
Travel managers have spent much of the past two years preparing for a day that, for many, finally appears to be here: the time when their offices reopen, their employees begin traveling again, and they can get back to a professional footing that echoes, if not equals, 2019. But even with two years of preparation, pushing past the Covid-19 pandemic can be an intricate process, particularly as internal and external rules and regulations change.
Many companies are in the midst of revising travel policies to redefine who can travel and the circumstances under which they can do so, and they are addressing the procedures in their travel programs to help would-be travelers re-enter a travel ecosystem that might be different than what they remember.
While the ways travel policies and procedures are changing vary by company size, industry and location, most are moving forward with a momentum companies—and their travel partners—haven’t seen during the two years, said Roger Hale, president and CEO of Birmingham, Ala.-based travel management company Adtrav.
“We’ve seen it just come barreling back,” Hale told BTN last month. “More and more of our customers, are saying, ‘OK, April 1, it’s pretty much open season.’ ”
In fact, many companies are beginning to lift the pre-trip requirements they implemented during the pandemic, said Will Tate, managing partner of travel management consultancy Goldspring Consulting, but still aren’t allowing a free-for-all of unlimited business travel.