Business Travel Takes Off Remotely

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In the wake of heavy lockdown restricts globally due to the spread of COVID-19, the airline and aviation industry still suffer from the hangover of travel restrictions as the corporate world has found unlikely alternatives to face-to-face meeting and conferencing.  

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a movement against flight travel by environmentalists and earth-conscious governments. This uproar has been the loudest in Europe, where business travel constitutes a significant portion in flight travel. With

only 12% of the population [taking] 66% of the total annual flights, while in the UK, only 15% of the population takes 70% of the total flights. As for France, 50% of the flights were taken by only 2% of the population in 2008’
(ETX Daily up, 2021).

 The elite business class regular flight users have also contributed the most in the upsurge of Carbon dioxide emissions in the past two to three decades. To the airline industry’s dismay, countries such as France banned flights that could be traveled by train (Macola,2021).  

Lockdown restrictions around the world caused businesses to re-imagine every task of business. The aspect that was immediately challenged by governments, as they tried to curb the spread of COVID-19, was physical interactions. Accordingly, businesses had to shut down offices and adopt a remote slant to business.

The use of video conferencing, teleconferencing and web conferencing became the platforms of necessity. ZOOM, Google Hangout and Microsoft Teams expanded their customer base exponentially in only one year and these companies are still grappling with the demand (Molla, 2020). With all prestige conferences like Collision in Toronto, Canada, and many others adapting to web conferencing.

During the full rage of the pandemic, businesses found the opportunity to hone in on their tech-savviness and most importantly, recording monumental savings on travel budgets.  In the case of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa, business travel has in most parts been inaccessibly expensive for them even before the pandemic.

Now with video conferencing, teleconferencing and web conferencing, SMEs can better afford to attend major summits and seminars around the world without having to invest in pricey flight tickets and hotels. This will allow conference bodies to reach out to more businesses across the world and entrepreneurs will stay abreast of rapid changes and innovations that can aid their business success.

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