Business Travel March-April-2021

WELLBEING
POSITIVE
thinking
As companies prepare for a travel restart, the
wellbeing of their travellers is being placed high on the
agenda and, says Bev Fearis, it's set to stay there
For all the turmoil it has caused, the
Covid crisis has brought positives
too. “If there is one silver lining in
the pandemic, it’s that in more than 30
years in this industry I have never seen
this level of engagement with CEOs and
C-Suite executives in relation to healthrelated
issues in the workplace,” says Dr
Rodrigo Rodriguez-Fernandez, Global
Medical Director at health and security
specialists International SOS.
“I have never had to brief so many boardlevel
executives on health and wellbeing
issues. It’s being discussed in a way it never
was before, opening a new channel and line
of conversation, and this is something we
can definitely keep for the future.”
Of course, the wellbeing trend was
already gaining traction in corporate travel
departments before the pandemic, but the
arrival of Covid-19 has taken it to a whole
new level. As they prepare for a travel
restart, companies of all shapes and sizes
and across all sectors are now looking
carefully at how to support their travellers’
wellbeing, both physical and mental, as
they get back on the road.
“Business travel, we know, is a highly
stressful situation for numerous reasons,
and when business travel starts to go back
to normal levels, Covid-19 will just add that
uncertainty and that additional stress,” says
Dr Rodriguez-Fernandez.
Indeed, International SOS, which counts
nearly two-thirds of the Fortune Global 500
companies as clients, was experiencing a
tenfold jump in calls from corporate
managers at the end of 2020 compared to
pre-Covid, along with a significant rise in
demand for its emotional support services.
Mental health issues have sky-rocketed
during the pandemic for a number of
reasons. Access to usual support services
has been reduced in affected countries and
many people are now more isolated,
working from home and prevented by
repeated lockdowns from having as much
contact with friends and family.
Travel managers should be aware that the
mental state of an employee could be
fragile even before the prospect of a
business trip is thrown into the mix.
Calls to International SOS show traveller
concerns aren’t necessarily about
contracting the virus itself, but could also
relate to how to deal with potential travel
disruption caused by fast-changing travel
restrictions.
“Travellers might call to say they’ve just
flown to a destination where there’s been a
large outbreak and everything is now shut,
or they might say their boss has asked
them to go but they’re feeling stressed and
are worried they’re going to burn out,”
explains Dr Rodriguez-Fernandez.
“Others are worried about catching Covid
on a plane, or their families might be worried
about them bringing it back home.”
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