The State of Corporate Travel and Expense 2022 10 SKIFT + TRIPACTIONS strategies. The return to travel must also include easily accessible and dynamic communication and information f rom employers and travel companies about evolving procedures and policies. From reduced flight schedules, cancellations, and seat shortages to the possibility of exposure f rom a co-passenger or the potential for travel into unvaccinated zones, corporate travel today still comes with a level of uncertainty. Accordingly, it’s imperative for companies to have real-time insight into every phase of the traveler experience, paired with the ability to communicate timely travel information at every stage of the trip. The right trip support tools and technologies are vital for ensuring a safe and lasting return to business travel and in-person events. “When the pandemic hit, TripActions was the first company to deploy a strong Covid-19 dashboard to assist our travelers and our travel managers with identifying at-risk destinations,” said Govern. “Moving fast, we paved the way for speedily getting travelers who were in trouble back home.” Govern emphasized that this level of support could not be done manually or by phone. “From a duty of care perspective, getting people to and f rom where they need to be requires a combination of service and technology,” she said. “That was confirmed by our customer feedback.” As travel rules rapidly evolve, it’s more imperative than ever that companies streamline communication and align around processes and goals. HOW WILL VARIANTS IMPACT THE COMEBACK? The success of rapid vaccination rollouts in North America and Europe has already paved the way for measurable recovery in corporate and other travel. But the rise of the Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus introduced additional uncertainty into business travel recovery timelines. Even if industry leaders agree that some caution is warranted, many also believe that the risks this time around are likely to be more predictable and manageable. Hilton is among a number of key travel industry leaders already looking beyond the Delta variant. As reported by Skift in summer 2021, the global hotelier had its first profitable quarter since the onset of Covid-19 ($128 million in the second quarter) and is not factoring a Delta-related impact or unease into its growth projections. “We know there are risks out there. We’re not oblivious to that,” Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta said. “We think those are all reasonably manageable.” Nassetta is further sold on the idea that “there is pent-up business travel demand waiting to spring forward this fall” and “sees business transient travel returning before group travel.” His optimism is backed by the numbers; Hilton’s latest system-wide occupancy in the U.S. was 74 percent, showing that some business travel is already back. Other global hospitality brands, such as Marriott, Accor, and Wyndham, are also returning to profitability. “There are the media-driven doomsday scenarios, and then there is the data,” said Govern. “Looking at the large spikes in Delta cases in hotbed markets like the U.K. and India, our analysis points to a short- term disruption that will be nowhere near as severe as 2020 or even early 2021. Putting that into the U.S. context, TripActions expects to see a crash in Delta variant-driven cases by early fall that will put business travel back on trajectory for a good recovery.” “In the meantime,” she added, “the fast-evolving restrictions due to the Delta strain will require agility in corporate travel and spend programs.”