Trends Shaping the Future of Travel and Working Life

Where were you around this time 12 months ago? Most of us remember it vividly. Travel freezes and work-from-home directives swept over the world. In response, CWT released a new messaging product with a single-click cancellation button within 48 hours and set up thousands of counsellors to work from home using a VPN-based home kit that allowed them to do the right thing for travellers at a tough time; safely.

In the newest episode of the Business Travel On the Fly podcast, two of the executives at the helm of guiding the company and its clients and travellers from that point through to now. Here are two trends that Michelle McKinney-Frymire, CFO and president strategy & transformation, and Niklas Andreen, president traveller experience and customer, believe will shape the next 12 months.

Analysing real-time data

‘The pandemic demanded a whole new layer of real-time data be added to the way companies manage the health and safety of their employees, and now there’s the added dynamic of health data which will remain a big focus for years,’ says Michelle McKinney-Frymire.

‘Data will be a critical part of travel management, even more so than today. A key part of the role of the travel management company is managing and analysing data at every stage of the journey – before, during, and after travel. How companies and organisations collect and analyse data will determine how well they restore and maintain confidence in travel.’

‘TMCs will need to work with clients to strike the right balance between travellers’ personal safety and personal privacy while industries and governments will need to work together on a common set of standards for processing digital health data and giving travellers control and clarity about how their data is being used.’

Hybrid meetings

‘Hybrid is a great example of the innovation and the creativity that comes out of a challenge that has benefits both from a climate perspective and from a business continuity angle,’ says Niklas Andreen, ‘The new breed of hybrid meetings brings a whole new dimension to doing business. It allows us to increase the number of people that can participate in big meetings. You can have a small group in place and spread the message across the entire organisation. The hybrid meeting is the evolution of the meetings and events space, which has historically been very binary.’