In recent decades , globalization has caused a dramatic increase in business travel, which is a key tool for companies eager to establish themselves in both domestic and foreign markets. After years of unstoppable growth, however, the volume of business travel has plummeted due to the outbreak of Covid-19, a disease that originated in late 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan and then spread to the rest of the world to rise to pandemic status. Since the declaration of an international health emergency issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Jan. 30, 2020, many states have in fact decided to restrict entry or close their borders altogether, with significant consequences on people's ability to travel from one country to another (according to a study conducted by the U.S. Travel Association, travel expenditures decreased by $492 billion from March to December 2020 compared to the same period the previous year).
The Covid-19 crisis, which has caused about 7 million deaths out of more than 700 million infections, with higher death rates per 100,000 population in Peru, the United States and Chile, has had a major impact nonetheless on the economic, political and security aspects of the most affected nations. Alongside the fall in GDP and the strengthening of executive power to the detriment of legislative power, in countries that have enacted restrictive measures on movement or imposed prolonged lockdown periods, so-called common crimes as well as violent crimes have declined significantly, with the exception of crimes such as, for example, usury, which has grown enormously due to the impoverishment of the population. Few and limited effects have been seen on the organized crime front, which, where present, has managed to adapt to the new context by rethinking the ways through which it carries out its illicit activities and, in some cases, taking the place of governments in what concerns the disbursement of aid to people in need, as happened in the most deprived areas of Mexico.
Asthe pandemic, but not the disease, ended, there was a kind of normalization of the situation, which also affected business travel. In spite of the negative prophecies of those who claimed that the changes introduced during Covid-19 (think telematic meetings) would indefinitely scale back the number of trips abroad, several researches have instead shown the opposite, namely a return to similar if not higher travel quotas than before the health emergency. Among the most recent studies is one done by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), which found that by 2024 business travel spending will equal pre-Covid levels, rising to a total of $1.8 trillion by 2027. Also according to this study, the areas that will experience the greatest recovery will be Western Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia, which stands to benefit from the full restoration of trade by China, which was the last nation to abandon anti-Covid restraint measures. Another survey conducted by the Morgan Stanley company also found that the increased budget related to business travel will not only affect large companies, but also small and medium-sized companies that, although they have been hard hit by the pandemic, cannot afford not to be active in the market.
The lesson taught by Covid-19 has changed the way business travel is considered, which must be approached with the utmost seriousness and awareness, that is, by adopting a careful and detailed assessment of health (but not only) risks before departure. To this end, it is of paramount importance to have a clear picture of the diseases present in the country of destination, as well as their precise location and the latest reported cases, so as to employ all those measures capable of reducing, if not eliminating altogether, threats to employees' health.
The end of the pandemic emergency has also prompted companies to equip themselves even more with technological tools capable of informing and monitoring workers while abroad, such as, for example:
Finally, there has been considerable reinforcement of the already present tendency of companies to customize business travel, which must be organized with the specific peculiarities of individuals in mind, and to take out insurance that covers the widest range of threats.
The increased attention of companies to the needs of employees to be sent abroad should not be seen as an impromptu reaction related to the conclusion of the pandemic, but as a process destined to become permanent. Only in this way, in fact, will it be possible for companies to adhere to supranational standards (think of ISO 31030 for international travel) and internal regulations aimed at protecting the health and safety of workers and, as a result, avoid incurring civil and criminal penalties that could jeopardize their success in the market.