Whilst the majority of global business travel came to a standstill during the pandemic, the corporate Travel Manager’s ‘to do’ list certainly did not. From initial repatriation to consulting the business and adjustment of policy and programme, the expertise of the travel manager became a valuable commodity to any organisation.

The pandemic was a global shock, unlike any other, in that it impacted everyone, in every business and every country worldwide. Whilst it is certainly a period none of us would like to repeat, it has brought with it a unique opportunity to re-set and re-look at why we do what we do and an opportune moment to rebuild from a standing start point. This also gives the Travel Manager a stronger voice, within their business, given the complexity of global travel, an increased focus on duty of care and accelerated business priorities which the Travel Manager can play an important role in supporting. During the pandemic many doors were opened internally as businesses looked to their travel departments as the subject matter experts and for many a seat became available at the C-Suite table.

In addition to the impact of the pandemic there were also a number of considerable changes in legislation during the past two years bringing further complexity to managed travel programmes, including Brexit and an amended EU posted work directive alongside a reinforced focus on ESG for organisations.