Three Ways to Improve Business Travel During the Era of Disruptions

In an era where global connectivity is crucial for business operations, travel disruptions have surged, affecting countless professionals. Our research indicates that the overwhelming majority of global business travelers—nearly nine out of 10—have faced significant challenges due to unexpected delays, cancellations, or the need to re-route their journeys in the past year. These disruptions, whether due to a pandemic, a global IT outage, geopolitical conflicts, or extreme weather events, have compelled them to take unanticipated steps, underscoring the critical need for more resilient travel solutions.

The world watched as many airlines recently suffered from a global IT outage, resulting in thousands of canceled flights in a single day and several days of delays in resolving tech issues. I was traveling for business then to a conference in Atlanta, and several colleagues and partners had flights canceled and were unable to attend.

Disruptions worry business travelers. More than a quarter of global business travelers are willing to decline a business trip due to the likelihood of delays or cancellations. The challenge for company leaders and travel managers is that, travelers, when on the road, are out of their control. To help business travelers, the solution lies in simplifying the pre- and post-portions of the business trip.

Travel disruptions can mean more unexpected time spent on a trip, so companies should follow these three tips to help simplify the process and save employees’ time.

Start With Automation

The first step is making sure that employees have the right tools. A Forrester survey of decision-makers found that 76% say increasing automation to improve efficiency and productivity is a high or critical priority, with two-thirds citing a more automated travel and expense platform to reach that goal.

Automated travel solutions help manage flight and hotel bookings while enforcing travel policies and automatically collecting expense information. With automation, there’s no reason that employees should be manually researching flights and hotels or submitting physical expense reports. 

During the global IT outage, customer service desks at airports were overwhelmed and some travelers reported being on hold for up to 24 hours, unsure of the status of their flights. These concerns may have been alleviated through modern travel platforms, which provide immediate trip alerts to keep travelers informed and allow them to search quickly for alternate options.

Extreme instances like these highlight the importance of automation and mobile applications to manage updates and help rebook when an itinerary is impacted. This way, travelers can receive more clarity into how disruptions are personally affecting their plans.

Automation not only enhances travel management but also helps travelers by eliminating repetitive and time-consuming tasks like receipt tracking and categorization, policy compliance checks, and reimbursement processing. This means that when business travelers return from their trip, they do not lose hours filing the paperwork from their travels.

Tap Generative AI to Shoulder the Work

Take automation a step further with generative AI, which can enhance business travel during every stage of the trip. Smart assistants and chatbots can provide intelligent recommendations on where to stay or host small team meetings, within organizational guidelines.

Employees can also use generative AI-powered tools to ask questions to reinforce compliance when altering itineraries. Instead of sifting through information, like lengthy expense policies or waiting to contact a representative, users can ask the chatbot about compliance, itinerary adjustment, or instructions on using business travel and expense management tools. Advanced platforms can provide timely and accurate responses, supporting workers facing interruptions on any day, at any time.

Following the recent IT outage, travelers equipped with advanced tools could have taken quick action to rebook and identify alternative routes by avoiding tedious and never-ending phone calls with customer service. Chatbots cognizant of company policy could enforce compliance while ensuring business travelers reach their destination on time.

Employees are apprehensive about using AI, though. Our recent survey found that 48% of global business travelers want assurances that their data will be protected when AI tools are introduced in business travel processes. Their sentiment is understandable and it’s important to take a responsible approach to using AI. Companies should implement robust data privacy measures and work with well-known companies with rigorous data practices, so when business travelers enter sensitive information like addresses and birthdays when booking flights and hotels, they’re better protected from threats.

Meet in the Middle on Travel Preferences

Business travelers say they’ve had to cancel or reschedule meetings, spend additional, unplanned days on business trips, and sit through longer or additional layovers in the past year. They’ve adapted to travel disruptions by booking extra time for travel—which means even longer trips.

Travel is already challenging, and increasing travel disruptions are adding more challenges. Company leaders can ease the pain by meeting in the middle and offering business travelers more flexibility.

Controlling cost will always be a business priority, but companies should consider granting comfort-focused requests, such as allowing overnight trips to reduce long travel days, paying more for non-stop flights, or splurging for business or premium class seats on longer flights. Permitting blended travel, or the opportunity to add personal travel days to business trips, is another perk that can make a difference to business travelers.