by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:24 AM ET, Mon July 13, 2020
As coronavirus-related restrictions continue to be lifted, corporate travel agents are working hard to get their clients out of virtual meetings and back to face-to-face interactions with the proper safety protocols.
According to Reuters.com, travel advisors are launching new tools for corporate clients that provide up-to-date information on health guidelines laid out by hotel, airline and ground-transport companies.
To cope with the changing landscape, more business travelers are leaning on travel agents to guide them through the different mask requirements, social distancing regulations and quarantine rules outlined by each destination.
"I am seeing a trend now starting to pick up," American Express Global Business Travel regional general manager Jo Sully told Reuters. "We can Zoom or Microsoft meetings but nothing beats the face to face."
"I think it will be a gradual recovery in terms of that. People will maybe think 'Should I just do this via Zoom?' but the overall response is people will go back to travelling for meetings," Sully continued.
The corporate travel industry accounted for $1.4 trillion in annual spending before the viral pandemic, and officials believe a return of 60-70 percent of usual volumes should be expected in 2021. Experts say it will be 2022 or 2023 before the industry returns to pre-coronavirus levels.
Other factors to be considered by companies include the disruption to the corporate events calendar and the need for companies to be stricter about approving trips.
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