Getting people back travelling through refined travel management policies
01/07/2021
In recent months, government restrictions on non-essential travel have slowly started to ease, and we’re now heading towards ‘Freedom Day’ on 19th July. In our last article, we shared our own experience of meeting in person again and the state of the industry on the future of meetings. But we know it is not just about us and how we have experienced what we call ‘the new norm’, we wanted to know how our clients felt about travelling again and their own experiences.
Many have said how much nicer it was than expected to be and how well hotels had accommodated the guidelines without making it feel too clinical or unwelcoming.
Here’s what Garry Dalziel from Vision Track said on his recent experience on staying at Holiday Inn:
“I would like to say thank you to all the team that I deal with when booking. The girls go above and beyond and get what I ask for. Holiday Inn has good food, good beds and is spotless in these Covid times. If you could pass on my appreciation for what they do – thank you!”
Hotels and venues have worked incredibly hard and made huge investments in order to meet government guidelines, at the same time, ensuring guests enjoy their experience when staying with them. Of course, we appreciate the experience will never be the same as what we have previously been used to, and there are new considerations to put in place. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. The new changes will only make us think more about our health and well-being in the long term and be more considerate of those around us.
With this in mind, we have been refining our existing travel policies with clients to support them on their return to business travel, meetings, and events.
Shaun Milner, Head of Procurement at Adler & Allan shares his thoughts on the need for an updated travel policy and how we at HTS have supported the effective delivery of this:
“Employee welfare has always been a high priority for us at Adler & Allan as many of our workers are often on the frontline at disaster recovery sites and therefore there has always been a focus on our travel compliancy. The pandemic and the limitation of travel and accommodation has led us to further refine our existing policy, which HTS has played a pivotal role in helping us relaunch to our employees.
We know that HTS will be there for us 24/7 with our employee welfare as a priority. With this, their knowledge and expertise, they demonstrate exceptional value in customer service and one we wouldn’t be without.”
We also brought on new clients at the end of 2020 when businesses realised the additional support they would need in order for their employees to travel safely and within government guidelines. It can be time-consuming and complex to understand the official guidance, but we have simplified this in order to support the needs and requirements of new and existing clients.
Sally Stockley from DYWIDAG Ltd was supportive of the need for a travel policy and how, already, she feels there is trust in our new partnership:
“With continued changes in 2020, it was apparent that we needed additional support to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our employees requiring accommodation within a framework of government guidelines.
With the challenges we are facing, we don’t have the time or expertise to manage this ourselves. HTS demonstrated knowledge, experience, and practical solutions.
We’re in the early stages of our partnership. Still, I have complete trust, that where we require travel and accommodation, our people stay in Covid-secure and approved venues and have the guidance needed to travel as safely as possible.”
‘Freedom Day’ will soon be upon us, but that does not mean we can simply revert to how things were. People will still be wary of travelling and meeting in large groups, but that is where we at HTS come in. We will take the time to understand your travel and meeting requirements, and create a travel management policy suited to your business needs. We are after all one of the top 50 Leading UK TMCs – so we like to think we know a thing or two!
If you wouldd like to know more about how we can support your business with the future of safe business travel – get in touch.
