As the world begins to warm up to a new way of travelling, it is corporate travel managers that are expected to stay one step ahead and adapt their travel programmes accordingly.
Amending policies and processes to account for multiple travel restrictions, new health and safety guidelines and testing and quarantine requirements has become an important part of a travel manager’s role, however it can be challenging to know exactly where to start when it comes to the use of new technologies in unprecedented and uncertain situations.
Here are some first steps for travel managers to take as the discussion around digital health passports and corporate travel increases:
It is worth assembling some key stakeholders to discuss what stance your organisation is going to take regarding the use of digital health passports during corporate travel. These should include HR, legal, travel managers and any security officers if applicable.
This could be a fairly short and straightforward discussion that is agreed to be reviewed as the technology is developed and its use becomes more widespread. However, with the topic of digital health passports likely to feature heavily in the news and press over the coming months, then it makes good sense to clarify your organisation’s view ahead of any questions from travellers.
Many organisations are using the reduction in travel volume as a chance to review their internal processes and policies in order to ensure they are fit for purpose once travel resumes.
As part of this review it is worth deciding whether you would like to add any guidance regarding the use of digital health passports to your current corporate travel policy. It’s a difficult area and is one that some organisations are choosing to stay away from until the technology is more developed.
We have already seen how quickly digital health passport apps have been developed around the world and this doesn’t look likely to be slowing down any time soon. With that in mind it’s important for travel managers to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in digital health passports, as it’s likely that travellers will be asking more questions about these in the coming months. While it’s not necessary to become an expert in software development, being able to point travellers in the direction of relevant resources or provide further information so travellers can make informed decisions is important.
It can be overwhelming when trying to gather accurate information about digital health passports and so the best place to start is by talking to your TMC. TMCs are in regular contact with many industry regulatory bodies, airlines and other travel suppliers and so will be up-to-date with developments regarding digital health passports. They might also be able to advise how best to include digital health passports in your travel policy, if at all.
Before creating a complex communication plan to address the rise of digital health passports, it’s a good idea to check in with your travellers and see what their opinions are. Some travellers might be willing to adopt whatever technology necessary in order to travel freely, whereas others might be more reticent. Let traveller opinion set the tone of your communication plan.