The future of frequent flying

THIS WEEK'S TOPIC: Will you resume business travel once the travel curbs are lifted?

Callum Laing Chief Executive Officer Unity Group

Yes. There is no question that we have found more effective ways to do certain elements of our business online, but nothing beats face-to-face for high value transactions and building trust. I do think we will be much more selective about what we travel for, not least because we are expecting the price of travel to increase significantly. That being said, like any other decision in business, it will come down to expected return on investment.

Yeoh Oon Jin Executive Chairman PwC Singapore

The calibrated easing of the circuit breaker is necessary so as to balance public health and safety with the need to restart economic activities. The health and safety of travellers, their families and people they come into contact with is the topmost factor to consider. However, just as certain industries have been ear-marked as essential services during the circuit breaker, likewise responsible employers would need to define what essential travel is and only such ''essential'' business travel will be allowed. This can include bringing specialists to countries where local talent is inadequate and remote support is ineffective, as well as where critical face-to-face meeting is required especially in deal-making situations. In the near term, a limited business travel policy is critical to sustain Singapore's hub status. Nevertheless, with the necessary safeguards before, during and after travel, and rising health and safety concerns of employees, the cost-benefit analysis of each trip will have to be considered very carefully when approving such business travel during this Covid-19 situation.

Victor Mills Chief Executive Singapore International Chamber of Commerce

Business travel will not recover to anything like pre-pandemic levels until the world has a vaccine to beat Covid-19 and it is available everywhere. Even then, its recovery is in doubt because most companies will be focussed on cutting costs. No CEO will allow executives to travel as freely as before when online meeting tools have been found to work well during the circuit breaker. Many executives will not want to travel anyway out of concerns for their own health or their view of how the pandemic is being managed by any given country. The environment will benefit, aviation and hospitality will not.

Richard Warburton President British Chamber of Commerce Singapore

Eventually, borders will reopen, and restrictions will ease for the mobility of people around the world. How this will happen remains unclear, as each country will have its protocols in place and will be responsible for avoiding imported virus cases. As an international Chamber of Commerce, and with the UK's new trading positions in mind, we see the opportunity for UK companies in this part of the world as considerable. Yet with a business culture preferring face-to-face negotiations, the ability for people to travel in and out of Singapore is critical. Similarly, multi-national organisations need to move employees around the world to meet the demands of their business. While the continued use of technology to replace some shorter business trips is likely to be the new norm, we do expect to see a return to regular, albeit less frequent, business travel. Lastly, as many of our members are expatriates, having spent most of the year so far concerned about relatives thousands of miles away, we anticipate a boost in personal travel once it is safe to do so.

Deborah Elms Vice Chair Asia Business Trade Association, Singapore

In the near term, it is highly unlikely that I would resume business travel. It is difficult to imagine a meeting so important that I would be willing to put up with likely 14-day quarantine periods (potentially on both ends of the trip for a total of 28 days on lockdown) plus all the associated hassles of travel. Safe-distancing guidelines at airports will create massive queues at check-in, security, immigration and boarding. Even if these can be navigated, the flight experience will be uncomfortable as keeping a mask on means no food or water for the duration of the flight. After arrival at the destination, similar screening and security checks await. Finally, the hotel and meeting venues will still remain challenging to enter and exit. This, of course, does not even begin to consider the psychological stress of worrying about catching the virus in transit somewhere or, worse, actually getting infected.

Rob Stummer Chief Executive Officer SYSPRO Asia Pacific

I am of the opinion that travel will gradually begin to open up over the coming weeks to ensure economies throughout the entire world begin to reignite. However, the way we interact and travel on planes will no doubt change forever. Digital transformation will be expedited for the aviation industry, where all interactions will need to become completely contactless with other humans. We already rely heavily on smartphones for check-in and boarding but now ''artificial intelligence'' will come to the fore with ultraviolet-ray cleaning robots becoming the norm. Machines will scan your irises to verify your identity and this will quickly expand to facial recognition at flight gates in place of ticket scanning.

Dileep Nair Independent Director Thakral Corporation Limited

Despite this being the digital age, business travel has seen a steady increase - until the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The ''windfall'' of unspent travel budgets may lead companies to question the need for business travel. While some travel can be replaced with Skype calls and Zoom video conferences, face-to-face meetings are essential when negotiating critical contracts, creating trust with customers or bonding with remote staff. There is no replacement for the ''in person'' element of a business relationship. Likewise, it is difficult to size up business opportunities without being personally ''on the ground''. Even with the lifting of curbs, travel will remain onerous and, until a Covid-19 vaccine is developed, will carry some risk. Still, as a board member, I would undertake business travel where board participation is needed, if only to underscore that nothing yet replaces human interaction. Indeed, business travel is an investment, not an expense.

Hau Koh Foo Director, Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Singapore Management University

Covid-19 will have a significant impact on international business travel: logistically, physically, economically and legally. Everything will be much slower, including check-ins, immigrations, seating arrangements and transits. Airfare pricing, travel histories and quarantine measures will also play a significant role in budgeting and confirming one's business travel schedules. A majority of corporate executives in our industry have shelved business travel for this year, as long-distance travel is unlikely to resume until 2021. Keeping all measures in mind, I intend to resume important and urgent international travel only towards the end of this year.

Maren Schweizer Director Schweizer World Pte Ltd

We will start with selective business travelling. That is because we do business with people, not entities. Overall it is a measure of necessity, our employee's comfort to go, risk and cost discipline. I learned a lesson about the importance of face-to-face communication with cross-cultural projects across the globe. It is the intangibles that matter - a new relationship forged, a relaxing activity after a long day of meetings, over a drink, or a level of trust from private events, and a casual conversation. Research studies show unequivocally that the most valuable communication is in-person. The team's performance depends on the number of times team members spoke face-to-face. Established partnerships and teams demonstrate their power in our virtual meetings these days. We will focus our post-Covid business travel on building such bonds.

Deborah Woollard VP, People and Communities, APAC, Japan and China Cisco

The Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally shifted the way we perceive and think about how we work. That itself has challenged us to think differently about how we connect with our customers and with each other. We will be very cautious in the way we re-introduce business travel into our working norms. The safety of our team members will remain our absolute priority and we want to continue to leverage newly-established virtual ways of working, which have now gained widespread acceptance.

In recent months, we have seen how utilising our WebEx technology with our customers and teams has demonstrated real benefits and savings both in time and cost, and we believe these insights will have a significant impact on the amount of time our teams need to spend travelling in the future. There will always be a need for certain travel, but we believe that this experience provides us the opportunity to fundamentally rethink how to work and connect in the future.

Anneliese Schulz President, Asia Pacific Japan Software AG

While business continuity is crucial for organisations adapting to a post-pandemic state, enterprises should not lose sight of the most important element of any company - their people. At Software AG, we prioritise employee safety and hence ensure that guidelines and protocols are followed whenever our employees travel. As employee safety comes first in all work environments, we provide solutions that allow remote monitoring of assets to support social distancing requirements in factories or other buildings while the data stays with you. Solutions like this will support returning back to work and over time allow for travel again in the least disruptive way.

Lawrence Loh Director, Centre for Governance, Institutions and Organisations NUS Business School

The pandemic makes one fundamentally question the need for travel - it appears that almost all things can be done virtually online. Indeed have we been travelling in vain all this while? It is long overdue that we come to realise how much time and costs, besides carbon emissions, we can cut down by not travelling. In the new workplace, we will now have less lame excuses like ''out for a meeting'' or ''out of town''. In the Covid-19 era and after, it is actually fine to be square, and not be there.

Chia Ngiang Hong President Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore

Resuming business travel too quickly may expose employees to inordinate risks of virus contraction. With the discovery of asymptomatic cases and the re-emergence of new clusters in South Korea and Wuhan, and with the contagion still circulating in many countries, this danger cannot be underestimated.

Business travel relaxation should be on a gradual controlled pace, based on the importance of the trip and necessity of face-to-face interaction. The recent experience gained through digitalisation of business processes can be applied to reduce reliance on physical travelling, thus ensuring that business can still go on while safeguarding employees' health and well-being.

Finally, enhanced checks, strict safety measures and quarantine requirements in various countries will still remain, making business travel more cumbersome, less pleasant and likely more costly. I certainly hope the government can open more ''green lanes'' with like-minded countries to facilitate safe travel to promote businesses.

Adam Reynolds CEO, Asia Pacific Saxo Markets

Yes, I will definitely resume business travel once we can. While we have all learnt to work in a fully digital environment, there is still a lot of benefit from the human interaction that comes from travelling. Whether that be visiting your own colleagues or visiting clients, communication face-to-face is definitely much more effective than over a monitor. I do however think that most travel will remain restricted into 2021 and that there will emerge corridors of like-minded countries that open up quarantine-free to each other. In Asia, these will be countries that are confident that they have eradicated the disease and that the other country is not going to let people in from the disease-heavy zones. In Europe/US it may be more countries opening up corridors where the disease has reached a level of herd immunity. The two paths that are being taken - eradication vs herd immunity - are vastly different and may dictate very different outcomes for the economy in the short and medium term.

Jeffery Tan Group General Counsel Jardine Cycle & Carriage

The pandemic caused business travel to shut down in an instant but its resumption will be a slow and measured one, requiring careful consideration of many factors: From weighing virtual alternatives in favour of actual travel, to analysing health risks associated with travelling versus the criticality of an in-person meeting in a foreign location.

Given the real risk of a Covid-19 resurgence, the return to business travel will begin with tentative steps in an intentional, purposeful manner - possibly never reverting to the previous scenario where this was a ''no brainer'' decision that could be made in a nanosecond.

Juliana M Chan Chief Executive Officer Wildtype Media Group

I believe that I will be in the air again by early 2021 as my work requires me to travel regularly for conferences overseas. I have wondered to myself how we would resume flying safely again and then I saw a report on new PPE attire designed especially for AirAsia cabin crew. I predict a new fashion niche - travel fashion - that incorporates PPE material and safety equipment. Imagine this: instead of buying a travel U-shaped neck pillow at the airport terminal, you buy a disposable PPE outfit that is both safe and comfortable to wear for your next flight.

Mario Singh Chief Executive Officer Fullerton Markets

Due to the nature of my business and my role as CEO, I travel quite frequently throughout the year. Last year, I was in 15 different countries to meet vendors, partners, clients and colleagues, and to speak in several industry conferences. Once the travel curbs are lifted, I will slowly resume these travels, though not with the same intensity as before. During this circuit breaker period, everyone has had to make painful adjustments, but the silver lining is that we have gotten used to digital-conferencing platforms like Zoom and Skype as our primary mode of communication. Hence, I see myself continuing to utilise these platforms even after travel curbs are lifted. However, areas that would still require my physical presence include keynote speeches in conferences and strategic business meetings with partners. Physical meetings would be especially necessary in South-east Asia, where people still prefer to meet face-to-face.

Andie Rees Managing Partner - South East Asia Odgers Berndtson

Some travel between offices for client work, particularly where there are cross-border assignments, will be necessary but while it is still early days yet, I anticipate that our organisation, which has already been harnessing technology quite effectively even pre-Covid-19, will be looking to more technological solutions to bridge travel and other obstacles. Ironically, while technology has transformed travel to a large extent, technology may now very well replace it to some degree, at least in the business context. We hear from many leaders that travel expectations will be cut as employees, customers and partners have come to be much more comfortable in doing business without the need for face-to-face meetings. Leaders will continually need to adapt an agile mindset to move forward with the new ways of working rather than revert to the way things were.

Veronica Shim Founder and Chief Executive Officer Envysion Wealth Management

Business travel will definitely resume, especially for the wealth management industry where interpersonal relationships are a key currency. As travel restrictions are gradually lifted, companies also need to implement tailored safe travel protocols for employees - from social distancing measures and risk assessments to contingency plans, should infection occur.

As a company, we will start looking at resuming business travels to countries with more established healthcare systems, evacuation facilities and strong track records in managing Covid-19. While our clients are spread across Asia and having face time is valuable, the safety of our employees remains of utmost importance - if they feel uncomfortable to travel for work, alternatives are available with support for digital resources.

Ajit Melarkode Vice President, Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) Boomi

Yes, business travel will resume albeit at lower frequency. Trust is the password that can connect everyone to everything. It is tempting to look at building and maintaining trust through a technology lens, but a human element is always preferred. Communicating virtually with clients, partners and peers across the region, we are all missing the ability to break bread and celebrate with our eco-systems, have eye contact, read body language other than above the shoulder on a screen and enjoy a handshake for recognition or gratitude. Digital quarantine has its uses but I do intend to come out of the ''Matrix'' and connect with the herd once it is safe, bringing back the human factor in business.

Luigi La Tona Chief Operating Officer StorHub

The Covid-19 crisis has shown that through technology we can facilitate meetings, build relationships and even make ''face-to-face'' introductions. In Asia particularly, however, person-to-person interactions are still vital for more meaningful relationships, and business leaders would not want to forgo the opportunity of personal interactions. Although remote business meetings are likely to continue even after travel restrictions are lifted, we believe business travel will make a comeback. Having said that, we will be monitoring the situation carefully and will not ask any of our employees to take a business trip unless their safety is absolutely assured.

Graeme Beardsell VP and MD, Asia Pacific and Japan Akamai

At Akamai, our top priority continues to be the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees during this pandemic. We will continue following government directives on overseas travel and only resume travel as a business when we deem it safe and necessary. For now, we have issued a new global policy which restricts business travel until end of September. I plan to follow this as I think it is important to set the right tone myself. When the pandemic started at the beginning of the year, our employees quickly and smoothly adapted to working from home without missing a beat in the delivery of critical Internet services to our customers and partners. Our regional leadership team provides a constant flow of communication with our teams so that they remain fully up-to-date on our business policies and practices.

David Gurlé Founder and CEO Symphony Communication Services

Since the start of the pandemic, I have been isolated with my family in France due to ongoing travel and social distancing restrictions. I plan to fly back home to Hong Kong - where I am currently based - once travel curbs are lifted.

The pandemic has taught us that the world is entering a new reality. Working from home and virtual meetings have become the new normal. Symphony rapidly adapted and we were able to support our customers in their respective transitions to remote work - split operations or work from home. Companies have seen the convenience of remote work and invested in the appropriate technology to support it. As a result, I believe the perception of business travel has changed and while it will not be considered as essential as it once was, I still believe that there will be value for face-to-face interactions.

Rayhan Perera Founder OneDash

Once the situation eases, there will continue to be appetite and demand for travel worldwide, for both business and leisure purposes, but the nature of travel will change. Safety precautions will assume greater importance. In a lot of countries, the use of contact-tracing apps might define the volume of travel. At OneDash, our executives and team leads will only travel in the most crucial of business circumstances, until we know the situation is viably under control. We will also implement stringent work- from-home quarantines once people return from travel.

Lee Chong-Win Chief Executive Officer Logicalis Asia

Covid-19 has devastated the aviation, transportation and travel industries. Even when travel curbs are lifted, extensive safety measures will likely be introduced. International travel costs are thus expected to rise considerably. There are now also less expectations to meet in person. In the foreseeable future, erstwhile road warriors will be travelling more on the Information Superhighway than anywhere else. Nonetheless, travel and related industries contribute significantly to the economy and we should support their recovery. As the old adage goes, nothing beats a look in the eye or a handshake to close the deal. Albeit, in today's context, a fist bump might be more appropriate. So yes, I will be resuming business travel.

Ho Kai Weng Chief Executive General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA)

I expect to reduce business travel. After months of holding meetings by video conference, many counterparts have realised that we can achieve our outcomes without travelling. Business travel is most useful for multi-day meetings of people across different time zones.

Melanie Lim Managing Director Builders Hub Pte Ltd

Of course, as long as travellers and airline operators take necessary precautions. Life goes on, we do not stop here.

There may be new viruses coming next month or next year, we would not know. Steps should be taken to ensure safety and peace of mind for travellers. We will try to live our lives as normally as before as possible.

Praveen Kumar General Manager, Asia Pacific ASG Technologies

The pandemic has pushed ASG and other organisations to embrace a new normal, and realise the advantages of remote, digital gatherings in strengthening relationships with stakeholders. It will take time for business travel to return to how it was before the Covid-19 outbreak, especially as countries continue mandating quarantines for visitors. However, the commonly-held belief that there was no replacement for physical meetings has been shattered.

Toby Koh Group MD Ademco Security Group

Absolutely a resounding yes. Nothing beats a face-to-face meeting with my overseas team, business partners and customers. Body language and micro-expressions, which are vital components of effective communications, are extremely difficult to read and convey over the best video conferencing technology today. Besides, humans have been dining together as an important social interaction since the days of yore, and that is not about to change anytime soon.

Andrew Chan Founder & CEO ACI HR Solutions

100 per cent! There is no doubting that business meetings online via apps such as Zoom and Skype have increased during this Covid-19 period; however, I believe that in a true business context, there is still no beating a face-to-face meeting. Long-term relations and partnerships are built from human connections, and virtual meetings, while convenient, will be hard-pressed to replace that. We may however be more prudent with our time and be more selective on the meetings that require travelling to, post-Covid. However, once borders open and all relevant conditions are met, I for one will definitely be hopping on a plane and looking forward to re-connecting with clients and business partners.

Walter de Oude Chief Executive Officer Singapore Life Pte Ltd

Human beings love to deal with people with whom they are familiar. Seeing people face-to-face is essential to build relationships, and so much more genuine than a phone call or video chat. But travel for physical meetings will be rarer, and by implication, more special. And by being more special, they will have better outcomes and produce tighter relationships.

Damian Tan Managing Director Vickers Venture Partners

Wearing mask is the new norm. That is wrong. Border closures are wrong. Masks and distancing are the wrong approach.

We already have a defence against the virus, it is the immune system. Most healthy people are not impacted or only mildly impacted by the Covid-19 virus. The very aged sick are vulnerable.

Airplanes should leverage technology; in any case, their air conditioning system is almost free of charge due to the cold altitude. New technologies in air circulation and ventilation can offer odourless and unusually clean air in planes and trains. But that handphone you are holding has a swarm of viruses - and you are using it very happily and healthily.

Derek Wang General Manager Alibaba Cloud in Singapore

The travel curbs are severe and needed. Thankfully, many countries are starting to see the positive effects. However, travelling for business remains unlikely in the medium to short term, given the threat of a resurgent wave, and especially when companies realise their business can continue running with a lot fewer in-person interactions through technology. This is a trend to stay. We are witnessing a fundamental change in work as we know it, where remote working and automation are the new norm. Digitisation is already creating cost savings for many work processes. As we discover how many in-person meetings are not as essential as we thought, we can expect to witness reduced travel expenses as well, which helps improve bottom lines and protect the environment.

Edmund Lee Managing Director, Singapore TMF Group

At TMF Group, we have adapted readily to remote-working arrangements and recognise that some business travel can be replaced by online video conferencing.

Nevertheless, the value of in-person meetings can never be fully replaced by technology. As such, for sectors where travel is essential to operate effectively, we can expect business travel to be primarily focused on domestic travel or shorter travel within regions.

We are also confident that technology will be a key tool in the revival of travel. Electronic passports and IDs, medical screenings and robotic cleaners are predicted to be deployed widely to ensure the utmost hygiene in airports.

TMF Group is continuously modifying its BCP to adjust to ''the new normal''. Resuming business travel will require a carefully considered decision as the health and safety of our employees remain paramount.

Geoff Soon Managing Director, South Asia Snowflake

It is uncertain when most countries will lift travel restrictions. However, when travel resumes in our ''new normal'' after the pandemic, we anticipate that the overall volume will be reduced as companies navigate new travel guidelines. We may instead see businesses considering trips of a longer duration, rather than the frequent, short trips executives took before, to maximise the value of services to customers and partners.

Leonard Cheong Managing Director AdNovum Singapore Pte Ltd

Businesses are now accustomed to the new modes of operations, with everything having come to a standstill amid the crisis. The push for accelerated digital transformation from the Covid-19 pandemic - such as the widespread adoption of virtual meetings cum events, and digitally-signed business documents - will be the new norm. These changes would significantly question and reduce the need to travel after this pandemic.

In all of AdNovum offices globally, employees' safety continues to be our priority, and they will continue to work from home on an alternate team basis till the end of 2020. There is thus no urgent need to resume business travel until the situation has shown to be contained around the world.

Bill Doherty Chief Executive Officer Walton Group of Companies

The simple answer is: Yes, our company will resume business travel, once the travel curbs have been lifted.

The longer answer is: As a global real estate asset management company, we are used to having frequent face-to-face meetings with our investors. Business travel was done frequently to meet up with our clients spread out across Asia, the Middle East and North America. With Covid-19, business travel is not possible and it has caused us to re-evaluate the necessity.

At Walton, we have invested in technology over recent years that has enabled us to connect with our overseas clients without physically meeting them. Previously, when our sales and marketing staff went on overseas trips, they were not able to meet up with all of their clients due to their busy schedules. However, with technology, not only can we conduct these meetings remotely and engage a wider audience, we are able to offer recordings for those who cannot make it.

Going forward, business travel for our staff will need to be balanced with this acceleration of technology use. Nothing can take the place of an in-person meeting. However, as a result of technology, travel will decrease significantly both internationally and domestically.

Aaron Lee Chief Executive Officer Gabkotech Innovations

Business travel will never be the same again even after safety measures have been eased. Enterprises have taken the opportunity to review their corporate travel policies during the lockdown period, and are expected to defer travel plans to next year as part of overall cost-cutting measures. Modern technology such as video conferencing and electronic document signing has proved to be effective and efficient, and I do not see myself rushing to the airport once the curbs are lifted. It is always advisable to hold back any unnecessary travelling until a vaccine has been found or the Covid-19 has completely stopped its ravages.

Eryk Lee Chief Executive Officer AAM Advisory

We do not intend to resume business travel the moment travel curbs are lifted. The safety of our employees is of utmost importance for us. The lockdown from Covid-19 has made us realise that everyone can have meetings with anyone from anywhere, as long as there is Internet connection. The need for business travel can be greatly reduced to essential events where physical presence is absolutely necessary. I believe that most companies will re-assess their travel policies as this could reduce costs significantly. This can be good for work-life balance as well. Rather than spending hours at the airport and on flights, employees can have more time for themselves and their families.

Sanjay K Deshmukh VP and MD, Southeast Asia and Korea VMware

I think business travel will start cautiously and resume based on travel advisories issued by governments for specific destinations, as well as stay-home or quarantine guidelines for travellers returning home. We expect to see similar ''travel bubbles'' in Asean where ''safe zones'' like Singapore-Thailand or Singapore-Malaysia will allow bilateral travel to resume before broadly opening up to more countries as their situations improve.

While there is no doubt that business travel will eventually resume, organisations must continue to adopt a long-term view of the opportunities arising from a mobile-first economy. With remote working as the new reality, organisations should continue their pivot towards telecommuting and enabling a secure digital workspace for employees to strengthen business resilience. It is also critical that businesses continue to refine their approach to non-essential travel and better support business operations virtually while enabling a remote-first workforce.

Sudhir Agarwal Chief Executive Officer Everise

There are some situations that require me to be physically present, but it is wiser to err on the side of caution during these times, and in any case with today's technology, we are more than capable of conducting business as usual via teleconference and webinars. I will not put any undue risks on my staff, myself or anyone I interact with, but if there is a need for travel, I will adhere to and advise following advisories and social distancing measures that have been shared by the government and health organisations.

Tomas O'Farrell Co-Founder Workana

At Workana, the health of our people is of the utmost value to us and we take their safety into consideration at all times. Technology works wonders in sustaining the daily work processes in a remote setting, and with the onset of virtual meetings, we view business travel now as non-essential. When restrictions are lifted, we will plan work-related trips with great caution, and limit such unsafe and expensive options, most especially when our aim is to reduce operational expenses. If at all necessary, we recommend exploring cross-border hiring and outsource work to local freelance professionals.

Simon Lee Vice President APAC Gigamon

It will likely take a while before international business travel resumes normalcy, given each country's quarantine measures during this time. We have noticed an increased acceptance of virtual meetings among our customers and internal teams, and as such, unless physical presence is absolutely required, it is highly likely we will continue to minimise business travels for the time being. As a global organisation, we strongly believe in placing the wellbeing of our people first and have put in place measures per the guidelines recommended by the the relevant authorities.

Dhruv Arora Founder & CEO Syfe

Now that we have implemented remote work for almost two months, we have seen firsthand how much can be accomplished over video calls. While we all look forward to being able to work from our office again, we will be limiting business travel to the most essential cases for the foreseeable future and continue to leverage technology to collaborate. Among the few exceptions might be the opening of an office for geographical expansion that still requires physical presence and therefore would justify business travel.

Ooi Joon Aun President and Managing Director Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, SEAsia and Pacific Rim

The Covid-19 pandemic has served as the ultimate stress test for businesses. While phone and video-conferencing has made remote working possible, face-to-face meetings continue to be important in relationship building and promoting collaboration

Business travel will resume but a new normal is to be expected - both travellers and hotels alike must be prepared to adapt to the new guidelines for health and safety. Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) and business travel planners must develop thorough agendas and itineraries that take into account these new safe distancing guidelines by determining the essential participants of the event and developing a strategy on crowd management, while managing the expectations of their attending guests.

When ''business as usual'' resumes, there are vital lessons to take away from our experience in managing the crisis - be it in our personal or professional lives. These should not be forgotten and are important to future-proof against shocks and disruptions.

Lee Siang Chief Executive Officer Dyslexia Association of Singapore

For the Dyslexia Association of Singapore, travel is mainly for attending overseas educational conferences. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant shift towards online conferences. DAS will likely continue to ''travel'' to such online conferences where possible. DAS has also adapted to the situation by presenting our conferences over live-streaming platforms to ensure learning never stops in the area of specific learning differences (SpLD) and special educational needs. Our first online preschool seminar held in March was very well-received. We will also be holding our annual UNITE SpLD conference online in June with presenters from Australia, China, Indonesia, India, the UK and the US.

Luke Lim Managing Director Phillip Securities Pte Ltd

We will travel if we have to and when we do, we do it with the upmost safety and consideration. The best thing PhillipCapital can do to fight Covid-19 is to not stop our business, raise capital for our listed companies, encourage sound investments and let the economy still run. Forty per cent of the 800 listed companies on SGX are from beyond Singapore shores. My research teams need to visit their global operations to write reports for our investors. Phillip Global Trading Network connects brokers around the world to access global financial markets. This trading network is built on a foundation of trust and professionalism which at times requires physical travel. After all, Singapore is a global financial hub and needs to continue to stay that way.

Tan Mui Huat President and CEO, Asia International SOS

Business travel will resume; nevertheless, the way we travel will now require a lot more planning and managing.

In supporting our clients where business travel is essential, it is about assessing the risk profile of the destination and the traveller. We developed a Covid-19 country score card, which includes risk factors from infection rates to medical infrastructure to assess the potential risks of these trips. We have to ensure a ''mobile bubble'' - a set of strict measures - shields the individual in transit, from personal protective equipment, to validated ground transportation or accommodation with stringent measures against the virus.

We have also partnered with the International Chamber of Commerce to launch an app called ICC AOKpass, with a view towards ensuring Covid-19 medical compliance during travel.

Ultimately, the resumption of travel does not rely solely on lifting travel restrictions, nor does it signal the end of the pandemic. The gradual easing of restrictions provides an opportunity for organisations to review our plans for business travel and help employees adapt to and be confident while travelling in a post-pandemic world.

Sandeep Bhargava Managing Director, Asia Pacific and Japan Rackspace

While we await a vaccine or possible eradication of the virus, it is important as global citizens that we are cautious and do our part to limit the spread. The new ''normal'' will undoubtedly include practices such as wearing masks, safe distancing and avoiding large gatherings. I think it is in our best interests to take a measured approach to business travel and only travel if it requires critical customer support. We also need to evaluate the safe distancing measures being put in place by the airline companies and make a judgement call of the risks on getting infected on the flight, and the possibility of infecting our customers thereafter.

Hari V Krishnan CEO & MD PropertyGuru Group

We do not anticipate a return to life as we knew it, even as travel curbs lift. The ability to travel freely across borders without health risks is a distant possibility. Yet, technology has made it possible to continue collaborating, unhindered by geographical barriers. At PropertyGuru, we actively ensure that our employees across South-east Asia embrace this new normal for the long haul and we already have a flexi-work policy. Our use of telecommuting will only grow as business activities continue, and companies and stakeholders have increasingly adopted remote working and flexible hours. While this may challenge our traditional ways of work and travel, I believe the shifting dynamics will in fact create room for improved work-life balance and family time - not to mention, new possibilities and ways of working.

Mark Billington Regional Director, Greater China and South-East Asia ICAEW

The Covid-19 outbreak has presented plenty of opportunities to work in ways that hitherto we thought were ineffective or unacceptable to our stakeholders. At ICAEW, we have improvised and maintained our business relations with partners from China to Australia, as we all rapidly embraced and adapted to online communication - we even successfully held our annual Regional Business Challenge virtually with teams and judges from six countries. While governments will gradually lift travel curbs to countries where they assess that it is safe for people to travel, the health and well-being of our employees remain our top priority. I envisage a return to business travel with more stringent assessment of necessity than ever before, with employees undertaking only essential business trips and using the safest routes.

Eric Hoh President, Asia Pacific FireEye

One positive which has stemmed from this Covid-19 global pandemic is how companies including FireEye have adopted new and creative ways to connect with our customers such as video conferencing tools and virtual events or webinars. While this has somewhat helped to bridge the gap, we cannot dismiss the importance of face-to-face meetings to solve real business problems. As a business leader in the cyber security world, it is important for us to not only safeguard our customers' security infrastructure but also to be on-site to support any cyber security incidences that may occur. Of course, our employees' safety takes precedence and at FireEye, we will continue to prioritise essential business travel only as travel curbs ease across the globe.

Axel Berkling Executive Vice President KONE Asia Pacific

As the world strives to move towards a post-pandemic state, restrictions on both people movement and business operations are beginning to ease in different countries. While this paves the way for business continuity, the health and safety of people remains a major concern. At KONE, we continue to take measures in ensuring our employees feel safe and confident that their health is protected while travelling. We will ensure regulations are followed as our people move around openly in shared spaces. The safety of our employees is of top priority, and we will encourage business travel only when business needs are critical.

Rithika Gupta Chief Executive Officer FP Aromatics Singapore Pte Ltd

Business travel at Ollie, our boutique brand, has largely been to meet with our customers and prospects on the demand side, and with farmers in remote villages and distillation facilities on the supply end. While customer engagement can easily be moved to virtual meetings, it is tricky with the production and supply side. With limited connectivity in most of these villages, where even proper phone calls can be a challenge, it is imperative that we continue to travel to these regions for sustainable sourcing. However, we will ensure rigorous health and safety measures are practised by our employees during travel and after their return.

Aaron Tan CEO and Founder Carro

Yes, we will resume business travel as soon as the travel curbs are off, though we will likely minimise the number of trips by staying put longer in a country versus doing many day trips, etc.

While virtual conferencing solutions work, they still do not beat meeting face-to-face, especially with markets that span multiple geographies. Our business spans over six countries and as a result of the lockdown, our productivity has taken a serious beating. To ensure optimal productivity it is crucial for us to travel to meet our customers and teams.

Benjamin Tan Vice President Ultimaker Asia Pacific

We interface with companies closely to identify pain-points and areas of improvements, through multiple meetings and physical site scans. These are important aspects of the buying process as they enable us to seed industrial 3D printing knowledge, and help customers better understand the benefits of 3D printing. While virtual site scans are the order of the day for now, they cannot fully replace the relationship building that comes with face-to-face interactions. As such, once we are given the all-clear by the World Health Organization, Singapore authorities and directive from HQ, we will resume travelling to give existing and prospective customers the support they need.

Saikrishnan Ranganathan CEO & Co-Founder SensorFlow

As travel restrictions begin easing especially in our key markets like Thailand and Indonesia, SensorFlow will be exploring the feasibility and safety of gradually resuming business travel. However, the key priority for us is our team's safety. Hence, while business travel is vitally important to the success of our company, it is even more crucial that we travel safely. In the coming months, we will build a better understanding of the risks and recommendations associated with business travel and ensure that our team feels confident and safe in travelling before making educated decisions on any overseas trips.

Tirupathi Karthik Chief Executive Officer Napier Healthcare

This will be dependent on governments reopening borders and allowing free movement. Currently it seems that, until a vaccine is found, it will be quite difficult for countries to accept overseas visitors easily. The expectation is that most countries will take a calibrated approach and will pre-authorise travel or adopt a quarantine-on-arrival approach. Both these will create significant barriers for business people.

Dora Hoan Chief Executive Officer Best World International Ltd

With Covid-19 yet to be contained, and vaccines and drugs against the virus still to be developed, resumption of travel will undoubtedly place a burden on the efforts to control the contagion. Therefore, we will try not to travel unnecessarily this year. If absolutely necessary, we will seek to travel selectively according to the extent of the coronavirus outbreak and the control measures in place at the destination.

At present, we will not travel to the United States and Europe for the time being, because they are still the hardest-hit by Covid-19. On the other hand, we will consider Asian countries or regions where our subsidiaries are based in, such as China, Taiwan and Malaysia, in which the epidemic has been under relatively better control. And we will strictly comply with all outbreak control and management measures in place on the trip.

Zaheer Merchant Regional Director (Singapore & Europe) QI Group of Companies

Our business requires significant travel because of tactile elements involved in our dealings. Being ''high touch'', we are affected in not undertaking business travel. Yet I am extremely uncomfortable in resuming travel once curbs are lifted. I will eschew doing so for some time. I appreciate that airports and airlines have taken precautions of safe check-ins, seat-distancing, disinfection, compulsory mask usage and other measures. But there is no avoiding proximity and contagion spread in an aircraft. I cannot choose a plane or its air quality, I have zero insights or say on the passengers around me (who may be asymptomatic carriers of the virus), there is limited seat choice but also too many touchpoints along the entire way from boarding to alighting regardless of travel time. Time inefficiency, ''virus-free passports'', insurance and medical covers, legal concerns, entry requirements on arrival, uneven and uncertain travel requirements in multiple countries are just some massive negatives to business travel going forward. There is no intermediate ground as business travel is purely a ''fly or do not fly'' scenario. My concerns are no longer irrational.

David Leong Managing Director PeopleWorldwide Consulting Pte Ltd

Travel bans and entry curbs at airports are still enforced in some countries and many countries still have the 14-day quarantine requirements.

PeopleWorldwide is in the business of overseas recruitment and travelling around China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Myanmar by our teams have been almost weekly routines. With the Covid-19 restrictions and inconveniences including possible compulsory quarantine in these countries, we are unlikely to travel until conditions are better to travel to recruit.

Zoom meetings and online interviews can be equally effective. Trade and practical tests can be administered through video monitoring. Covid-19 changes the recruitment methodology and process, which I think is for the better.

Lim Soon Hock Managing Director PLAN-B ICAG

Covid-19 has put a devastating damper on air travel when it had been on a geometric rise, fuelled primarily by low-cost carriers. Passenger traffic at Changi International Airport plunged to a dismal 25,200 in April, down from 5.6 million in April 2019. That the impact on air travel is severe is an understatement.

Post-Covid-19, the worldwide economy will transition to be ''glocal'', meaning that businesses will have to think global but act local, empowering local enterprises, public administrations, regions, department, cities, where the field knowledge is based. Local or regional industry will be back to supply strategic products, enabling a country to be self-dependant and able to secure strategic supplies for the population.

As a consequence, people will move less, travelling differently, which will also contribute to less carbon emission. Digitalisation has demonstrated its value-add with working from home. Businesses and people will not move back in the future. Even more, this will impact significantly the HR strategy for many companies, and this shift will not stop after the crisis. Many companies will review their relationships with their employees and the way teamwork and collaboration will have to be implemented.

Like many others, I expect to travel less.

Annie Yap Chief Executive Officer AYP Group

In the current Covid-19 age, movements between and within countries have been largely curtailed to curb the spread of the virus. Businesses have been forced to use telecommunication platforms like Zoom. Transnational companies have had to move their annual general meetings online as hosting meetings online becomes the new norm. The silver lining is - such moves bring significant cost savings for companies as travelling and miscellaneous expenses are reduced. However, moving meetings online has made sensitive information more susceptible to the dangers of the Internet's privy hands. Personally, I believe that nothing beats the nuances that face-to-face interaction - made possible through business travel - can convey. When travel curbs are lifted, business travel will likely resume albeit in a measured manner.

Kartik Krishnamurthy Managing Director, Asia Cornerstone OnDemand

One of the biggest aspects of Covid-19 is the realisation that business travel is not really needed to the level we used to ''believe'' it was. In fact many companies globally have reported a massive increase in productivity with majority of teams working from home. What this tells me is that business travel post-Covid-19 will become ''non-essential'', especially with technology platforms like Zoom, Webex, etc via which teams from across the world are able to collaborate on key projects. Secondly, the pandemic has also accelerated the need for companies to go digital, and many have increased their investment in talent experience during this time, especially around learning, performance, etc. Lastly, with the various restrictions put in place by governments, airlines and hotels on how people can/will travel, I believe it will impact productivity negatively primarily due to enhanced testing rules, safe distancing measures, etc.

For my business in Asia, I would say business travel will be drastically reduced. Overall, I do believe travel - for work or leisure - post-Covid-19 will be drastically different.

Jay Ng Managing Director Stacs

Covid-19 has brought a new normal for all of us, including how we conduct our businesses. During this lockdown period, business owners have realised the importance of technology in improving productivity and in reducing physical contact with clients and between staff.

This is especially seen in the financial sector where for example, most physical bank branches are closed. Customers are using banking apps for most of their banking needs. At Stacs, we play a role in helping financial institutions to digitalise many of their products/services through our blockchain technology where physical contact is minimised. In fact many processes can be made redundant or fully automated.

With widespread technology adoption brought about by Covid-19, businesses will get more comfortable in reducing business travel. At Stacs, we will monitor the global Covid-19 situation closely and react accordingly. Safety of our staff is of utmost priority.