As business travel soars high after being blighted by Covid and the post-pandemic lull, there are new challenges that India’s corporate travel landscape is facing. It could be anything from the changing needs of (Millennials and Gen Z) travellers, to the rising geopolitical uncertainty where situations can alter in a split second.

This has led to an old and oft-neglected travel industry jargon to occupy the non-negotiable centrestage — duty of care.

What is the duty of care?

Simply put, it stands for an employer’s responsibility in ensuring safety and well-being of its staff while travelling on work. This ranges from planning the trip safely, giving clear information on the risks involved and having support systems handy, in case there is an emergency during a trip.

Mritunjaya Chandra Mohan, senior manager (corporate travel) with the tech giant Palo Alto Networks, points out to a team that got caught in the ongoing strife in Israel, when there was a blast in a lane next to the hotel where the team was staying. “Duty of care is about how you deal with situations. Challenges are not only for India; it is everywhere.”

Business travel had plummeted in India when the pandemic-induced lockdowns came into force. The stopgap arrangements like Work from Home and virtual meetings through video calls on applications like Zoom soon acquired a life of their own in the ensuing years, as company saw in them a two fold advantage — firstly, it kept employees safe even while turning the business wheel during the uncertain years following the relaxation of restrictions, considering that frequent flare-ups of the outbreak, billed ‘waves’ kept coming up. And secondly, HR and management discovered in them a neat way to save money by cutting down on travel, especially considering how many businesses, particularly smaller ones, found the going tough in the uncertain years following Covid.

However, things are looking up, especially in India, even if pre-Covid figures are yet to be breached. According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), business travel spending in India stood at an estimated 38.3 billion dollars last year, with India among the fastest-growing business travel spending markets amongst the top 15, along with South Korea and Turkey.

“Around the world, GDP growth is in 2% or 3% while we are still at about 6-7 per cent, and economic growth gets reflected in corporate travel,” said Gazanfar Ibrahim, managing director of Fairest, one of the biggest organisers of travel trade shows in India, including the ongoing BLTM in Delhi.

“We have turmoil in the Middle East, turmoil in Europe, China is (just) getting back, but India has been sort of a sea of tranquility, politically and economically,” Ibrahim added, “Indian companies are travelling abroad for business, foreign companies are coming into India, because India is still one of the most stable economies. The whole drop we saw during Covid, this impression that maybe businesses can manage through virtual meetings, that has changed. I think now we should not be very far off from the pre-Covid figures.”

Of course, while business and travel grow, new challenges, in the form of geopolitical uncertainties, are cropping up. Rahul Agarwal, India operations senior director with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) pointed out, “Demand continues to grow, but travel is getting more uncertain. (Today) things can change within a second — wars breaking out, airports getting shut down, etc.”

However, travel industry experts feel they can be dealt with the right approach and contingency plans, with ‘duty of care’ now assuming added significance — international observers now call it a ‘non-negotiable’ requirement.

Companies’ responsibility now does not begin or end with booking tickets or reserving hotel rooms for an employee on a business trip. Experts point out how different categories now exist amongst travellers, with varying expectations — with more Gen Z and Millennials in the workforce, work trips are now more experiential, with differing requests that offices need to take note of. “It is not just an age gap, but designation gaps, with everybody needing to be satisfied. It becomes increasingly challenging, “ said Mritunjaya of Palo Alto.

The future

But considering how hotels in Kashmir were going full just a few weeks after the terror attacks and a mini war, the travel industry is confident that business travel, the segment that brings in the moolah, will only keep on growing. “You can have Zoom meetings, but at the end of the day, people need to see eye to eye; people need to hug and shake hands. Build up that rapport,” added Ibrahim.

Mridul Pahuja, AVP Travel Mobility, Motilal Oswal, sums it up succinctly, “We are social beings, we travel, we will continue to have meetings. If it did not happen five years ago (Covid), it wouldn’t happen now.”