In such a degraded health context, companies continue to organize “essential” trips. An International SOS webinar enabled three speakers to share their recommendations in the management of these business trips.
At the time of Covid-19 and its variants, it is not always easy to ensure the smooth running of a business trip. It is essential to take into account all the scenarios: changes in vaccination, health passports, entry restrictions, exacerbation of security risks such as disinformation or crime. In an environment of such complexity, International SOS wished to share some recommendations this Thursday as part of a webinar called “How to navigate between security and pragmatism?”.
Doctor Philippe Guibert, Regional Medical Director and Health Consulting of International SOS, first gave a brief update on the health situation in the world. He expressed concern for Latin America, which appears to be taking over from Europe as the epicenter of the pandemic, as well as for India and Turkey. Optimistic about the impact of vaccination despite the growth of variants, he then expanded on the modes of transmission. And Philippe Guibert recalled that air transport did not represent a threat of spreading the virus, given the “extremely low” risk of being contaminated by plane, much more than going to work in the office …
What about travel trends and perspectives? Charline Gelin, Safety Director of International SOS, has observed a resumption of “essential” travel – including maintenance and the implementation of commercial agreements – since the third quarter of 2020. At the same time, with a growing demand for information on medical issues and security, linked in part to travel restrictions and employee protection. ” This increase in demand is not only observed in Europe, but also in distant destinations such as China, the United States or India. »She underlined. As for the sector where the demand for travel was most evident, she was surprised at the second place of high tech, yet at the forefront in the promotion of teleworking and remote communication tools.
Julien Million-Rousseau, Director Presales & Solution Consulting at SAP Concur France, an important partner of International SOS, observed that many companies – many of which had no Travel & EXpenses tool – had approached his company to set up 100 solutions. % dematerialized. He returned to another big trend of recent months, the more important, even systematic, use of ” travel pre-approval“, Validation processes linked to a financial logic but especially to health and safety issues, today major concerns of travelers and travel managers.
Many changes will be observed with a magnifying glass, with regard to the effectiveness of video tools and CSR requirements. Their impact on business travel could be reflected in a decrease “10 to 30% of trips, within a wide range, according to Moody’s “Continued Julien Million-Rousseau, who also noted that the air transport has certainly fallen sharply but that” other budgets have increased »In recent months, and in particular those linked to long-distance trips by car.
Charline Gelin returned to the importance of having access to a ” reliable and updated information on a daily basis“, On the pandemic itself but also on its impact, sometimes indirect, in particular on the social and political level. And this information will be all the more complex to gather as the trip itself is complicated, with one or more stopovers in different countries, as Philippe Guibert pointed out. We can also cite as an example China which now requires Chinese vaccination (in addition to quarantine), and the United States where health measures may be more restrictive in some states than in others.
The Regional Medical Director and Health Consulting of International SOS also wished to recall that access to care may prove difficult in certain countries, in the event of a health problem, such as Brazil in view of the level of the pandemic in this regard. moment. Thus, a medical briefing before his departure is widely recommended today, according to Charline Gelin. He also insisted on the diversity of the risks involved, which should be detailed in the training programs for business travelers. An example: the current dramatic situation in Myanmar, where International SOS recommends that foreign companies evacuate their expatriates.
Julien Million-Rousseau added to this need to be informed ” as much as possible, before the trip, during the flight and on arrival, on site and for the return flight“. Both International SOS and SAP Concur have tools for this, he recalled, also insisting on updating his travel profile, respecting approval procedures, and making reservations through corporate channels. Charline Gelin concluded on the need to take into account mental health issues, linked to the complexity of travel, stress, isolation …
–
