Zoom, zoom, zoom used to make us think of a car commercial. Now it conjures up flickering images of friends and co-workers squirreled away in basements with Ikea bookcases or tropical beach backgrounds. The world has discovered that it can do a lot of things over the Internet. I’ve taken to depositing my checks/cheques by taking a picture with my phone. Lawyers are taking depositions by GoToMeetings. Teenagers who can’t go to the mall (horrors) are flooding Amazon with purchases. So, what does that mean for business travel? A lot, in my opinion. I’m a guy who practically lives for Read more
business travel
We’re only six weeks from summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, and that has a lot of people feeling better about things. If you’re in the travel and tourism business, there are some pretty good reasons for optimism as well. I’ll look at a new poll in my FUTURE OF TRAVEL blog today, as well as optimistic TSA numbers and comments from airline officials. There’s also some news from Jasper National Park in Alberta and some not-so-hopeful comments out of France. THERE’S A GOOD MOON ON THE RISE First up, the good news for a Sunday. A report on novacancynews.com Read more
There’s some encouraging news from destination marketing groups on the effects of COVID-19. But also some disturbing trends surrounding business travel and sports. I’ve got some thoughts and links to published stories on all three of those topics today on my FUTURE OF TRAVEL blog. First, I’ll offer the encouraging news. A report by my friends at TravelPulse in the U.S. finds that destination marketing folks are feeling more optimistic these days. Reporter Claudette Covey wrote that the fourth wave of a survey conducted by MMGY Travel Intelligence and Destinations International Foundation “found that increasing numbers of destination organizations are Read more
Several stories I’ve read and a webinar I listened to today have me thinking more about what the future of travel will look like. I wish I could be more encouraging, but I’m finding a lot of mixed messages. I do think people will have a pent-up desire to get out there and explore, but I also realize all of us who do so will find a world that’s quite different from the one we’re used to. And I think companies – airlines, hotels, car rental companies and most definitely the cruise industry – will have to make major adjustments. Read more
Business travel may never be the same again. With programs or apps such as Slack and Zoom literally taking off (I had my first Zoom chat ever on Saturday, linking up eight family members in Toronto with five in California, including my 88-year-old father), how long will it take for businesses to decide that long-distance travel isn’t as necessary as it used to be? There will always be a place for in-person meetings. But with webinars and virtual reality and Slack and Zoom and FaceTime and Skype and other services out there, folks are beginning to realize that we really Read more
