No doubt the pandemic has induced upheaval throughout the travel industry. In particular, the rise of remote work and “bleisure” travel are being heralded as the greatest change-makers in travel for 2022. In essence, the ability to work remotely has the potential to permanently change how we think of employment – and the reasons we travel.
However, as with all things new, there’s the possibility for unintended consequences. For example, visas are getting harder to come by; some countries are mandating health insurance coverage; and entry requirements are shifting by the day. As international business travel returns, travel managers are discovering how difficult it is to oversee these kinds of post-pandemic repercussions.
The management of the remote workforce is a different animal altogether. Before COVID-19, we couldn’t have imagined business travelers sharing scenes of sunny beaches, or having children (and pets) climb into their laps on a trip as they simultaneously attended Zoom calls. RV travel emerged with a bang, as remote workers plugged in during office hours while someone else did the driving. It was clear that being liberated from 9 to 5 rituals was having an impact, but we still didn’t know where it was leading.
Three years later, we can see a bit more clearly. According to The Harvard Business Review, the number of Americans describing themselves as digital nomads rose by 49 percent between 2019 and 2020. More interestingly, the number of digital nomads with traditional jobs rose by 96 percent; in other words, “traditional job holders now make up a majority of those pursuing this nontraditional work lifestyle.”
For the travel industry, this liberation from the shackles of the office meant more dollars spent by remote workers during less demanding peak travel times and in non-traditional locales. In fact, accommodation providers are scrambling to meet the needs of this new market – many offering incentives with flexible and moderately priced leases on a myriad of rental spaces. Meanwhile, for some employees, this liberation meant a better work-life balance. (For others, we know it triggered mental health concerns.) Certain companies found often meant an improved way to scale globally and reduce office related overhead costs.
Cross Border Confusion
While these “wins” of remote working sound fabulous, on the flip side, the dislocation of the global workforce is a logistical nightmare for travel managers, who are often responsible for arranging international travel, both for US-based travelers and for foreign nationals into the US and returning.
“The process of risk management for travel and remote work can be complicated. Employer obligations regarding traveler health and safety will vary from location to location. Travel managers needing to create this process should consider reaching out to professionals to help put something in place,” advises Kennet Nordlien, CEO and founder of Riskline, based in Copenhagen. “Travelers looking to obtain or renew a passport or those in need of a visa may find themselves facing long waits. While there has been some improvement to wait times, the backlog from COVID and renewed demand for travel this summer mean documents still take longer than normal to process,” Nordlien says.
“Travelers should check on wait times well in advance of their planned trips. Likewise, visa rules may have changed during the pandemic, so double check these requirements before booking travel. In some cases, while a visa may not be required, travelers may need to apply for a security or transit pass, such as the upcoming European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), which is scheduled to start in May 2023,” Nordlien warns.
Adding to the puzzle, there’s often a disconnect between government rolling out the welcome mat, but not streamlining border barriers, says James Wood, head of security solutions at International SOS in London, “A number of large airlines have incorporated the process of travel restrictions into their booking procedures, [to] help to manage the process. Countries see the opportunity to re-open their borders and drive international travel, but the infrastructure enhancements [such as decreases in staffing levels for processing visas] has not followed at the same pace.”
Coverage Without Borders
And as if monitoring visa requirements weren’t enough to give travel buyers a headache, now some countries are requiring proof of medical insurance before a traveler is allowed to enter. “As the pandemic moves into a number of countries’ rear-view mirrors, those countries are counting the cost of treatment and emergency healthcare,” Wood says. “As such, there is a growing need to protect healthcare systems, ensure appropriate funding and resourcing is in place and to be as prepared as possible should this happen again. Therefore, proof of medical insurance is, for some countries, a requirement for visa approval and issuance, to mitigate the potential risks to that country of unpaid medical treatment or complications that may arise.”
According to Meghan Walch, director of product for insurance comparison site InsureMyTrip, “As for the ‘best’ kind of medical insurance to obtain, that really depends on the trip and a traveler’s needs/wants. It is important to note that most domestic health insurance policy will not cover medical bills abroad. So if you become ill or injured and need to seek medical attention, you will likely have to pay out-of-pocket for those bills,” Walch cautions.
In response to the pandemic, Allianz Travel Insurance added epidemic coverage to many of their products in 2021, says Richard Aquino, vice president, head of sales for Allianz Partners USA. Aquino explains that the addition provides “cancellation coverage for customers, their close family members or traveling companions who become ill with COVID-19 before their trip begins or while they are traveling, as well as emergency medical coverage for customers who become seriously ill on their trip.”
This trend is only going to get more popular, even for business travelers who continue to conduct face to face meetings, says Clay Coomer, VP of marketing for WorldTrips.com, a travel insurance provider. “Demand for travel medical plans is up nearly 70 percent,” Coomer predicts. “At last check, travelers are requesting quotes for the company’s Atlas Travel Insurance medical plans at record levels – to date, 67 percent more policies have been sold through WorldTrips for trips scheduled in 2022 compared to policies sold for 2019 trips. This demand is being driven as more destinations adopt travel insurance requirements for tourists as the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year.”
Digital Nomad Policies
Putting all this together is a big feat. For travel managers, the primary focus is on establishing a clear risk management policy on what their company is willing to accept –or not accept – in relation to working remotely. “Travel managers need to be on the front foot and be part of the organizational approach for return to travel, leading on process enhancement and diligence around navigating the more complex travel environment,” Wood advises. Creating a Digital Nomad Policy, in conjunction with legal and accounting departments, can help to ensure this, by assisting in identifying who your digital nomads, tracking where they are, where they’re traveling and for how long.
Including traveler tracking in a Digital Nomad Policy is a popular best practice. Companies can create it in house, go through a company such as International SOS or WorldAware, or use the US government’s STEP program. “Travel managers should learn what the duty of care laws are where they work, and where their travelers are going. They will need to meet these regulatory requirements at a minimum. Company management may want to go above and beyond these and implement programs like traveler tracking as a way of safeguarding their personnel on official trips,” Nordlien adds.
A Digital Nomad Policy can also specify if the nomad is a telecommuter whose place of employment is in the same jurisdiction as the company. The question of jurisdiction has arisen as a peculiar problem. A remote worker may be traveling/working through Alabama, but earning the higher wages prevailing in, say, New York, where his/her company is headquartered. According to The Harvard Business Review, “As a result, digital nomads can easily and accidentally create a new ‘permanent establishment’ for their employer in the state or country where they’re working. That exposes both the employer and the employee to the new jurisdiction’s tax, regulatory, and compliance rules and laws.”
Tax is another ballgame altogether, especially if the remote workforce is spread out internationally. Sometimes it’s the type of work that a remote worker performs that triggers tax laws, while other times it’s the amount of days they stay in the locale. Note that tourist visas are typically only valid for 90 days. Today, “digital nomad visas” are a thing. These visas allow workers to remain in a new country on a tourist visa while still working for a foreign employer.
“With a more geographically diverse workforce and more people working for longer periods of time remotely, including outside their contractual country, the importance of tax compliance has increased over the course of the pandemic. However, it’s important that organizations do not simply lump this compliance process in with the travel manager’s responsibility given the broader financial nature of the issue – they are absolutely a key part of it, but this needs to be a collaborative, cross-functional approach,” cautions International SOS’s Wood.
Tech Help Wanted ASAP
While travel managers can access individual sites such as the US Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), Passport Health, and dozens of travel/medical insurance companies, this can quickly turn into a hassle. “The pandemic accelerated the emergence of travel-related apps and technologies that make the review of requirements far more efficient,” says Wood. “Leveraging these technologies is one of the best ways to keep up to date with changing requirements. For example, International SOS has rolled out a new risk management tool called the COVID Trip Planner. The information provided in the planner is constantly updated as countries and regions change their COVID-19 related rules and requirements. This includes travel rules by destination, country visa requirements, vaccine and testing requirements and quarantine mandates.”
Another example is Serko’s online tool, Zeno, a single application to book and manage flights, accommodations, provide alerts and even display carbon emissions information. “In Zeno, when a user tries to book an international trip for a traveler with an expired, or expiring passport, there is a warning notification triggered on the screen, with the ability for the information to be updated before the booking is confirmed,” explains Nick Whitehead, chief marketing officer for Serko.
As we have seen, one of the biggest pushbacks to the recovery of international business travel is what’s unknown around leaving and returning, and technology can be a travel manager’s best friend during these complex times. But it’s vital to remember as we move forward in this new framework that, at the end of the day, digital nomads simply want to be reassured they’re taken care of. In other words, if travel programs for the remote workforce aren’t met with an emphasis on crisis communications, access to emotional support and health services, and efforts to achieve the ever-elusive work-life balance, productivity can sink. And this will leave travel managers scratching their heads once again.
