As domestic travel restrictions begin to ease around the world, access to health and safety insights will be key to the resumption of business travel activity, according to global customer research conducted by Corporate Travel Management (CTM). Australian states and territories will begin assessing their interstate travel restrictions from mid-June, with most expected to be eased by the end of the July-September quarter, while New Zealand commenced easing restrictions last week allowing domestic travel to resume.
This week, CTM launched integrated airline reassurance data into its proprietary online booking tool Lightning, enabling CTM’s customers globally to view COVID-19-related airline service features alongside flight search results at the time of booking.
The airline data, powered by ATPCO’s Routehappy Rich Content, incorporates new Reassurance UPAs (Universal Product Attributes) from more than 100 airlines (representing over 70% of global flight schedules). Qantas’ new Fly Well program, announced yesterday, includes a range of wellness features which will be reflected in their Reassurance UPA’s in the coming weeks and made available in Lightning.
The data spans health and safety measures such as airport and cabin cleaning, health screening, food and beverage hygiene, passenger and crew wellbeing, as well as flexible booking conditions. CTM CEO Australia and New Zealand, Greg McCarthy said that CTM has responded quickly to customer feedback, integrating an extra layer of travel intelligence into its proprietary booking technology to allow customers to make more informed choices and feel confident about their return to business travel.
“Our survey data clearly showed the negative impact that not travelling is having on our customers’ business performance, and we understand the challenges they now face in getting their teams back on the road with maximum safety and peace of mind.
“As Australia and New Zealand prepare for a return to domestic travel, we’re thrilled to be able to deliver enhanced service information from airlines to help our customers make travel decisions that will increase traveller confidence and aide business recovery at the earliest opportunity,” he said. Seth Anagnostis, Head of Global Sales at ATPCO said, “It’s important to see more companies like CTM acting quickly to address the travel concerns of their customers globally and provide them with the information they need to get back to flying with maximum confidence. Partnering with CTM on their global roll-out of ATPCO’s Reassurance UPAs within the Lightning online booking tool is another step forward for consumer confidence.”
