Excerpt from Worth
The ‘road warriors’ will be back, but they will be rarer, forming a more select group, who will be conscious of their status and understand that they are required to prove their value to their stakeholders.
Business travel is an important part of the economy. A study from Oxford Economics found that $12.50 of additional revenue is generated in the economy for every $1 spent on business travel. Critical to the hotel industry and to the meetings and conventions industry, it is also an economic necessity for airlines who rely on business travelers because they frequently buy tickets at the last moment, often paying top dollar. According to travel software firm Trondent Development Corp., business travelers account for only 12 percent of the passenger base but 75 percent of airline profits.
When business travel returns, it is likely that it will change. For the past 15 months, the pandemic has dramatically sped up acceptance of virtual communication tools. Businesses are likely to plan for reduced discretionary spending, which may result in travel budgets being squeezed for some time. Business leaders may combine meetings so that they maximize the value of each trip for their organization.
In an op-ed for Business Travel News, Scott Gillespie, the founder of travel-focused advisory service tClara, wrote about the anticipated reduction in discretionary business travel, saying there will be, “fewer but more important trips and travelers. Low-value trips will get denied by finance approvers and far fewer infrequent travelers have the need to travel. Those who do travel are deemed ‘important,’ just like their trips. The inevitable conclusion is that most corporate travel budgets will be permanently smaller. Business travel peaked in 2019.”
Pre-pandemic, I traveled internationally every month. I’m one of those business travelers who kept flight numbers and schedules in my head and whose car service phone numbers in each country were stored in my phone favorites. Over the past few weeks, I talked to a group of similar ‘road warriors.’ These executives are among leaders who traveled almost every week, and, in the course of their pre-pandemic lives, spent between a third to a half of their time away from home.
How do you feel about business travel now?
How have you adapted your work in the past year?
And has it changed your thinking regarding how much you traveled in the past?
James Kent, who is the CEO of a global reinsurance company and is based in London, told me that his firm has effectively adopted a work-from-home process since March 2020. He says, “Most of our offices around the world were remaining closed during this period. Naturally, this has been a dramatic change from the past where I was either working from an office or traveling to meet clients, prospects and colleagues, with perhaps a 50/50 split between the office and travel. While it is easy to reflect that travel was too extensive in the past knowing now that my industry has managed with almost no business travel for the last year, I don’t think anyone should judge the two extremes of travel pre- and post-pandemic as a single right answer. A new middle ground will emerge.”
New York-based Hedieh Fakhriyazdi, who heads social responsibility and runs the foundation for a law firm, says, “My work, including programs I run and manage that require travel, has drastically changed in the past year, but I would say that it has largely been for the better. Business travel has become less of a necessity through platforms such as Zoom, and even conference platforms that allow for dynamic networking opportunities through virtual forums have worked for me. In some instances, networking virtually can be less anxiety-producing for introverts. It definitely takes the edge off when you are meeting someone for the first time on Zoom, from the comfort of your own home.”
Kent Watkins, who runs his own advisory firm based in Washington, D.C., told me that he has worked from his home for many years, after giving up the office routine for a more flexible work style. He says, “The pandemic has not changed my thinking on the frequency of my travel. Sometimes it’s been 50 weeks out of 52 but averaged about every other week. Not traveling for the past year did negatively impact business, but I was ready for a ‘gap year,’ and since it also affected everyone else, I did not lose out that much. In fact, it was great to have time to catch up on a lot of backlog. I have always relied on the internet and videoing. I personally missed seeing people at receptions but didn’t miss the logistics of travel, particularly the local travel within the Washington, D.C. area—the challenges of everyday driving and parking.”
José Pariente, who heads procurement for a global law firm and is based in New York, told me, “We essentially stopped travel. This travel freeze during the pandemic has changed my thinking regarding how much my colleagues and I traveled. It became clear that much of business travel in the past was discretionary.”
Pamela Thomson-Hall, who heads the region of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (CEEMEA) for a global public company and is based in London, shared that she has spent the past year working in a six-foot-by-six-foot space, maximizing her use of virtual meeting software. “The technology of seeing people on screen and in their own homes has given me the opportunity to meet with more people and get to know them better. It has been quite leveling, with more access to senior leaders and to meet more junior people than I would have typically met on a business trip. This year has changed some of my thinking of how much my team traveled. In the future I will be much more circumspect about approving a business case for my team to travel. We cannot justify every travel request given that we now know we can do so much more remotely using new technology.”
She continues, “But for myself, I already kept my travel to an absolute minimum before the pandemic, and so that won’t change. I used to fly in and out to reduce cost and time away from home, and pre-plan to maximize my time on the ground, doing breakfast meetings, back-to-back meetings and group meals. It was exhausting. Now, I would try to be kinder on myself, not fly through the night, sleeping on planes, and focus more on quality. I would consider doing an extra day, at my own expense. I now realize how life is so short, and we need to maximize our experiences and that in the past, I never saw the towns I visited for meetings. So, I would try to be more mindful of where I am and take advantage of the experience more. I can’t say that would necessarily mean I’d stay longer for work, but it will mean I will think more about how to add this to holiday leave, which I have never done before.”
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