Inntelligent News 2021

Traveller & Delegate Wellbeing Q&A Village Hotels Many of our hotel partners are expanding their wellbeing facilities in response to corporate demand, Village Hotels tell us about their recent developments. Which traveller and/or delegates wellbeing initiatives do you have in place or are on the roadmap for implementation? “Village Green” is focused on a fit and well community through a programme of good physical fitness and emotional wellbeing. By offering over 100 fitness classes a week in addition to extensive gym and pool facilities, we support business travellers with their fitness goals. Our newly introduced VWorks co-working space allows business travellers to meet with others and helps foster entrepreneurial spirit. Do you feel the importance of traveller/ delegate wellbeing will change post-COVID, if so, in which way? We see fewer trips being booked but for longer stays. Many people have been reflecting on what is important to them such as family time and health or fitness. Travellers will seek out places to stay which will allow them to continue to support their personal wellbeing. These elements may include Covid-safe procedures, great gyms, wider menu choice and space to work or simply unwind. Do you have specific initiatives in place for looking after frequent travellers? Frequent travellers seek consistency and choice. Comfy beds, power showers, large screen TVs are much sought-after. Our gyms and studios allow for workouts and relaxation plus our new menus offer “pub classics” balanced with healthy bowl food. Our VWorks co-working space is a great workplace alternative. In your opinion, which innovation or change will have a big impact on traveller and/or delegate well-being? Corporate companies driving policy changes to support wellbeing, not just in words but in action. Hotels being transparent on facilities they can offer over and above the “norm”. Financial Services Company One of our financial services clients explains how they will give more prominence to traveller wellbeing within their travel policy in the future. What are your thoughts on developing a well-being strategy for frequent travellers? Some employees may feel a level of anxiety about travelling on business again after not being able to do so for nearly 18 months. We hope that including personal well-being objectives in our travel policy will help to make them feel comfortable and safe, and demonstrate that the company has their best interests at heart. What do you think are the best ways to measure traveller well-being? We use mostly soft measurements such as how positive and refreshed the person is feeling after they have travelled. We feel it is important that our employees have time to recover after flying through multiple time zones before attending a business meeting. Equally, only flying on ‘red eye flights’ will lead to people becoming fatigued and unable to perform their business meetings with a positive mind-set. Line managers do also keep an eye on the number and length of trips taken per month to ensure a healthy work/life balance is maintained. Do you think your travel and meetings programme will change to incorporate well- being objectives post-pandemic? Yes, we are reviewing our travel policy to include well- being objectives which will help travellers reduce stress levels. This is incredibly important in building confidence and getting people travelling for business again. We are also reviewing our hotel programme to include more hotels with wellness options to give those employees travelling for business access to important elements like healthy food options and gyms. Does your preferred hotel programme take well-being into account and do you see a place for suppliers who fully embrace their customers’ well-being in the future? Our current programme includes hotels which offer our frequent travellers the facilities to unwind and as a result, perform at their best. We have fewer trips being booked currently although these trips do tend to be a bit longer to make the most of it, making it even more important that we offer comfortable accommodation. This last year has given us time to review our policy and update it to reflect the changes in business travel. In your opinion, which innovation or change will have a big impact on traveller and/or delegate well-being? Hotels offering well-being facilities free of charge and adding healthy eating options to their menus. This will encourage businesses to add hotels offering these facilities to their programmes. INNTELLIGENT NEWS - ISSUE 17 PAGE TWENTY ONE