Our Wings May Be Folded, But We Will Emerge

Travel and tourism form one of the largest industries in India. In the 25 years I have been a part of this wonderfully complex and interesting part of our economy, we have overcome many periods of uncertainty and emerged stronger for the experience.

These past few months have certainly given us reason to reflect on our industry. For India, the social distancing measures and travel restrictions have highlighted a fundamental aspect of the human condition – our need to connect and communicate on a deeper person-to-person level.

Travel plays an essential role in society. As an industry we should be proud of its resilience, the way it connects people and places, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it creates across India.

Responding to a changing world

It is fair to say that we’re facing some challenges. With those come opportunities. It is at times like this, a managed travel program demonstrates its critical value to a business. 

From the outset, we’ve had three key priorities: to protect our people, to support our clients, and to protect our business. There were weeks when our travel counsellors had never been busier, organising repatriations, refunds and cancellations. We also proactively helped clients look at forward bookings by pulling data, identifying itineraries and communicating with those who needed our support.

In recent weeks, the travel industry has experienced dramatic cuts in capacity and revenue and the Indian travel and tourism sector has not been immune. Our focus for now is making sure we help our clients prepare for getting people moving again.

We should be optimistic: Travel is resilient and is needed to power the global economy. Growth will return and we must all be ready.  

Recovery 

It is difficult to predict which part of the economy and what area of travel will recover first. From a business travel perspective, domestic travel is the most likely place where Indian companies will rebound as international travel restrictions may take longer to ease. 

As travel gradually recovers we will see a new normal emerge in the way we travel. For example, travel can be expected to start and stop in different countries, as global health authorities and governments make decisions on opening and closing borders. What is certain is it won’t be a uniform business as usual approach.

In response, airlines may stagger the return of full schedules and there will certainly be social distancing measures in place, along with increased health screening at airport. All of this will see longer transit times.

Even though we cannot be certain of what the new normal looks like in its entirety, what is certain is that companies are using this current travel hiatus to prepare for their businesses to rebound and are starting to plan their travel management program.

Our travel sector will have to adapt and make changes to meet and manage new expectations and travel policies will need to be flexible living documents, that can be quickly updated and shared with employees.

Companies will prioritise their duty of care obligations and will want assurances from TMCs, airlines and accommodation suppliers that when they send their employees away on business, they will remain healthy and safe. 

They will want their TMC to pinpoint and communicate with travelers immediately if there is a risk to their safety. For example, in the early stages of the crisis where there were alerts of specific flights with confirmed sick passengers, we could pull traveler manifests for our clients and their travelers, down to the row that the impacted passenger was seated in.

For the travelling employee, they will need access to channels such as in-app messaging, and live webchat with travel counsellors, as well as phone, SMS and email. With the right technologies and services, travel management companies and other service providers can help rebuild confidence in businesses’ travel programs.

The future

Gazing even further into the future, after months of working from home, companies and their employees will have had time to think on how they do business and adapt to different ways of working. 

As a society, we’ve had time to consider what’s important to us and, for most of us that is going to be re-connecting with others. The travel industry has a unique opportunity to bring people back together and help foster even deeper connections.

But it is not going to be as simple as sourcing the cheapest flight or hotel. We must help our clients take care of their travelers and uphold their corporate values. After all, travel is a force for good, it drives business and industry, and fosters inter-country relations.