As 2020 comes to an end and looking ahead to 2021, travel managers are planning for a strong return to travel. With this in mind, and considering today’s ever-changing travel environment, ensuring that travelers feel comfortable and safe on the road should be a top priority. As industry advocates for the traveler experience, Fox has created a COVID-19 journey map to help travel managers understand and address the current sentiment of travelers.

Fox Director of Customer Experience Mia Beltran developed Fox’s COVID-19 journey map based on voice of the customer feedback from nearly 300 travelers and 100 travel managers. Using this new resource, she has been working closely with travel managers to better understand and create a COVID-era travel experience that truly meets traveler needs.

“We asked travelers about their top return-to-travel concerns so we could address pain points and anxieties,” Beltran said. “The information helps travel managers prioritize their time and communication efforts on the things that have the biggest impact and support for travelers and their travel program.”

Read More: Will Business Travelers be Affected by Anxiety

The COVID-19 journey map serves as a baseline tool for Fox to help guide travel managers through common pain points as well as unexpected ones.

“We know that industry conditions are changing almost daily,” Beltran said. “Understanding and being able to have a visual depiction of the traveler journey allows us to quickly respond to new developments and identify where we have the biggest opportunity to help and support travelers.”

Fox has assisted travel managers in building out responses to specific traveler concerns identified in the COVID-19 journey map, such as:

• What do I do if I get sick in-destination?
• What’s covered under health insurance?
• What’s changed with the company travel policy?
• What should I pack?
• Is the hotel fitness center open?
• Will it take longer to get through security?

And organizations like Michels Corp, a leading energy and infrastructure contractor, have benefitted. Kathy Crain Wondrash Corporate Travel Manager for Michels, says Fox’s focus on the traveler experience has helped their travelers hit the road. “Our essential workers needed to continue our work,” she said. “The special Covid-era traveler notifications and Fox’s Covid information hub were great resources for our travelers and our travel program team.”

Additionally, using data and resources from industry leaders such as IATA, along with the internal work, Fox has pulled out actionable insights for travel managers to support the post COVID-19 return to travel. Cleanliness and safety protocols of airports and other travel suppliers are clearly important to those on the road. The journey map takes into consideration how and when to effectively deliver such relevant information to travelers.

Keep your travelers in the know – check out Fox’s COVID-19 Resource Hub

Fox will continue to evolve the COVID-19 traveler journey map as industry conditions and traveler sentiment changes. Together with our travel manager partners, these efforts ultimately benefit our clients’ travelers as they experience a changing COVID-era life on the road.

Do you need help with your travel program communication? Read our Steps to Improve your Organizations Communication Plan

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