During SAP Concur’s recent Travel Industry Summit, industry leaders discussed important changes coming to travel in light of COVID-19, including increased flexibility, enhanced end-to-end safety and security measures, and new mobile and touchless technologies. In fact, American Airlines just released an updated app that enables a touchless check-in experience. But travelers have expectations for when business travel resumes as well.
A SAP Concur commissioned survey of nearly 5,000 global business travelers revealed findings that may dictate the road to business travel recovery:
- Ninety-seven percent of global business travelers expect to adopt new behaviors when they start to travel again, including wearing facemasks, carrying hand sanitizers in shared spaces, and travel-enforced social distancing.
- Ensuring personal health and safety while traveling is most important, with 65 percent of business travelers placing it in their top three considerations.
- The most stressful stage of business travel is the trip itself, according to 45 percent of business travelers - a 50 percent increase from last year.
- Thirty-six percent of business travelers will hold themselves most accountable to protect their health and safety when they can travel, 18 percent will hold their employer most accountable, and 13 percent will hold their government most accountable.
- Ninety percent of global business travelers expect increased discrimination against certain groups, including those who display cold/flu-like symptoms (59 percent), those from countries with greater than average infection rates (53 percent), and travelers of Asian descent (40 percent).