The pandemic has transformed many aspects of business in the last 18 months or so and created all kinds of challenges. Business travel is one of the most heavily affected areas as a result of COVID-19, with practically all travel coming to a standstill. Now, travel is starting to open up, but the situation is still fast-changing around the world. So, how can businesses plan their travel in the current situation? It will be tricky, but there are a few business travel tips to keep in mind that will hopefully help your trips to be a success for all parties.
Check Your Business Travel Insurance Policy
One of the most important steps to take is to check your business travel insurance policy to make sure that you are protected against coronavirus-related losses. Travel is still a major risk right now, and the situation can change quickly, so having financial protection in place will be key.
Keep an Eye on the Travel Destination
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You also need to assess the situation of your travel destination. Places around the world appear to follow the trend of waves, so you should keep an eye on the situation to determine whether or not it is likely that there will be COVID issues that could make the trip unsafe and/or challenging.
Make Safety a Priority
You need to make sure that safety is a priority to protect your employee(s), those you are meeting with, and public health as a whole. This will involve researching ahead of time and making plans that will help people to stay safe, such as booking into hotels that have strict rules in place and regular cleaning and making plans for meetings to take place outside. You also need to make sure that the people traveling will be sensible and wear a mask, wash their hands, and socially distance themselves.
Use Travel Expense Management Tools
Planning business travel is much harder than normal right now, and there needs to be a degree of flexibility. This also means that expenses could be an issue because the plans might need to change, so it is a good idea to use travel expense management tools that allow you to quickly and easily monitor, approve and reconcile all travel-related purchases.
Update Travel Rules
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Following on from this, it is a sensible idea to update your travel rules so that your employees know how they should be acting on the trip. This will include aspects like acceptable travel partners, emergency protocols, safety best practices, and health screening for employees and their families. You may also want to consider limits on what can be done in their free time. Business travel is a perk that allows many employees to explore new places, but obviously, safety needs to be a priority right now, and you may need to limit what they can do.
Hopefully, these tips will be helpful when it comes to business travel planning during COVID-19. Planning business travel can be a major headache for organizations while the pandemic continues, but it is possible to plan a successful and enjoyable trip for your employees.