Tag: Flight Centre Business Travel

Travellers won’t book without flexible Ts & Cs and health and safety protocols in place, with the majority saying they want to travel internationally in 2021. A recent survey we conducted shows how COVID-19 has changed how South Africans travel. Most survey respondents stated that they still want to travel internationally in 2021, provided there is booking flexibility and that health and safety protocols are in place.

As President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a return to Level 1, there is a renewed sense of positivity in the air and the potential for new beginnings. Now is the time for businesses to rebuild what was lost or damaged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and to start getting back to ‘normal’. It is time to get up, get moving (literally) and resume corporate travel.

With the rise in digital nomads and travelpreneurs, it’s business as usual, whether you’re sitting at your desk, or 30 000 feet up in the air. Business no longer keeps office hours and if you’re a business owner or director, chances are you’re conducting business in a noisy coffee shop or in the waiting lounge of an airport.

While SARS confirms that it is not obligatory for South African residents travelling abroad to declare their personal effects when leaving the country, we encourage frequent travellers to do so to avoid any inconvenience or confusion.

These days there’s an app for just about everything. From everyday apps to help you get around, like Uber and Google Maps, to the more bespoke and sometimes bizarre ones like Carr Matey to locate your car in a pirate voice, which just about says it all. The total number of mobile app downloads in 2017 was around 197 billion, according to Statista.

The key to managing your business travel properly is knowing when to use technology and when to partner with a travel management company. There is a misconception in the market place amongst most SME businesses in South Africa when it comes to booking their business travels. The perception is that if you do it yourself, it will be quicker and cheaper.

Attending conferences to network and stay up to date with trends within your industry could set you apart from your competitors. Running a business can be extremely isolating. Attending conferences helps to put things into perspective and gives you an opportunity to meet people within your industry and learn about what’s trending, which in turn could give you the edge.