How Travel Managers Adapted To The ‘New Normal’
In the midst of a pandemic that brought travel of all kinds to a grinding halt, with little clarity on when and how it will resume at scale, the work of managing corporate travel was not business as usual in 2020. A prolonged decline in business travel appears likely, but that does not necessarily mean a decline in demand for skilled travel managers. In fact, the most skilled and savvy report increased demand for their abilities and respect for their strategic value. At companies big and small, whether thriving or struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate travel managers faced remarkable challenges in 2020, and their roles continue to change as they navigate unpredictable years ahead. From Crisis Management to the Messy Middle In the early months of the crisis, travel managers played a big and very visible role. The more tightly managed a travel program was the easier it was to locate employees, assess their risk, and st...