As the travel industry emerges and recovers from this crisis, a key priority will be new ways of working.

RSM has produced a timely report for the travel industry using insights from 255 of ABTA’s Members, who responded to a survey focussing on workplace and employment issues.

The results from the survey included: 

• 60 per cent of businesses expect to return to booking volumes and values experienced pre-lockdown during 2022
• 89 per cent of travel businesses made use of the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme 
• 90 per cent of businesses returned to some level of active operations by mid-September
• 40 per cent of businesses are looking at changing their operational footprint
• 50 per cent of businesses expect to see more working from home in the future, but only 22 per cent anticipate this to be on a full-time basis.

Mark Tanzer said ‘In the short term, it’s clear that travel businesses are focussing on workforce structures, cost savings and reducing their operational footprints. And companies have had to adapt quickly to home working, with a more flexible working model emerging. For the longer term, and as the travel industry emerges and recovers from this crisis, the focus will be on new ways of working. This report shows that there is a high probability of further workforce changes, post-pandemic. Many businesses are expecting to see more home working in the future, compelling us to take a fresh look at how we work’.

Ian Bell Head of Travel and Tourism RSM UK said ‘In many ways the pandemic has acted as a catalyst for a change that was already in motion. When ‘normal life’ does resume, it is clear that some habits that felt new to us initially will be adopted long term into a more flexible style of working, where effective home working is as important as the office. For an industry often amongst the first to be impacted by global events, the lessons learned now will make for more agile business models that are ready to take advantage of the inevitable upturn.’

To see more of the findings from the survey, the full report can be downloaded here.