Organisations are prioritising health, safety and security on business trips for the vast majority of travellers, although far fewer employees feel they are similarly supported when working remotely, according to a BCD Travel study of travellers around the world.
In the survey, 76 per cent of travellers said their employer “definitely” makes their wellbeing a priority, along with an additional 19 per cent who said their employer “probably” does.
Additionally, 68 per cent of respondents said their company has a travel risk management policy, although nearly one-third (29 per cent) said they didn’t know whether their employer had such a policy in place.
Most employees also reported feeling relatively secure while travelling for business, with 75 per cent saying they “rarely or never” feel unsafe on business trips.
The most frequent cause of unease was when walking in the streets, which was cited by 44 per cent of travellers as being when they felt the least safe, followed by driving in unfamiliar locations (43 per cent) and using public transport (40 per cent).
However, employees were less sure of safety and security policies when working remotely – only 36 per cent of respondents said they were “unconditionally” supported in a remote working situation, while 18 per cent said they were not supported by their organisation.
An even smaller percentage (16 per cent) said their companies offer medical or security support if something happens while travelling on leisure as an extension of a business trip, often referred to as blesiure. Another 20 per cent said their company does not offer this support, while the majority (64 per cent) did not know what their company’s policy was on this type of extended trip.
Mike Janssen, BCD’s global chief operating officer and chief commercial officer, said that companies need to “shift from travel risk management to people risk management”, as workforces have changed in recent years, particularly during the pandemic.
“Today’s duty-of-care policies have to address the realities of hybrid or work-from-anywhere workforces as well as the changing values around traveller wellbeing,” added Janssen.
BCD’s survey of 674 business travellers worldwide examined travel risk management and the traveller experience, with 18 per cent of respondents coming from EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region.
