The travel and tourism industry is undoubtedly one of the most affected by Covid-19, a global emergency that has not spared even the corporate travel branch.

With mandatory quarantine imposed on travellers, ever-changing global restrictions, and flights being increasingly cancelled by the airlines, managing business travel after the pandemic outbreak has become a real challenge. Remaining close to its travellers, BizAway has kept monitoring the spread of the virus, whilst providing constant support and advice.

No one could expect the situation to escalate so rapidly and to such extent — every day has been a new challenge — but we can proudly say to have successfully left the worst behind us.

Repatriations: a safe journey home

Since the virus was declared a pandemic, we have mobilized to help travellers reach their home countries.

Two out of the many repatriation cases proved to be extremely complex:

One is that of Cimolai’s Travel Manager, Martina Capovilla: she had to urgently repatriate one of their employees from Ireland. The only solution seemed to be taking a flight to Rome, where the lockdown restrictions had just been enforced by the government, and the traveller would find himself stuck and with no means of reaching Venice, his final destination. Martina has then reached our travel consultants, who have managed to find a direct flight to Venice on that same day.

We have contacted the embassies and all the accountable entities, to provide for information that was reliable and constantly updated. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has been a particularly useful source, along with Viaggiare Sicuri, which was often recommended to travel managers to help them monitor the spread of the Coronavirus worldwide.

TripsGuard also keeps being regarded as a valuable source of information when it comes to border openings and the specific health measures adopted by each country (from the mandatory use of face masks to severe lockdowns and the regulation of public transport).

On a second occasion, BizAway has revealed to play an important role in the repatriation of one client who was trying to reach his hometown in Poland but was struggling to find a flight from Italy, where he was working when the restrictions had begun to tighten up. He contacted us on March 14th after his original flight had been cancelled by the airline. We have booked him on the next available flight, which was scheduled to depart 2 days later, but it happens that this one gets cancelled, too. At this point, an ever-growing number of airlines were starting to impose severe reductions on their flight schedules and it was rumoured that Italian airspace would soon be closed to traffic. Poland, on the other hand, was still allowing residents and commercial flights to be carried: an emergency flight was then arranged to depart on March 17th, carrying our client, together with many other passengers that were finally making their way home.

Prevention is the key – office included!

BizAway also keeps being close to its employees, by implementing new measures to lower the risk of contagion:

• Smart working: per un’azienda tecnologica come la nostra è stato semplice e naturale adattarsi al telelavoro durante i mesi di lockdown: grazie a strumenti come Skype e Slack siamo riusciti a mantenere attivamente i contatti interni tra i vari dipartimenti e a fornire supporto ai nostri clienti come se fossimo in ufficio. Per mantenere il morale alto durante tutto il periodo del lockdown abbiamo organizzato ogni venerdì pomeriggio un aperitivo online per fare quattro chiacchiere in compagnia;

• All’inizio dell’emergenza BizAway ha stipulato un’apposita assicurazione sanitaria per tutti i dipendenti in modo da garantire una copertura economica delle spese nel caso di contrazione del virus;

• Da metà aprile è stata data la possibilità di accedere saltuariamente al proprio ufficio.
  Per garantire il rispetto delle norme sanitarie e la sicurezza di tutti oltre alla creazione di apposita cartellonistica con tutte le buone norme da seguire, è stata predisposta la disinfezione regolare di tutti i locali e la presenza di mascherine e dispenser igienizzanti per le mani.

BizAway’s hints and tips for travelling in the time of Covid-19

Here are some practical suggestions for a safe travel:

Before departure

• Scegli tariffe rimborsabili o flessibili: in questo modo riuscirai a cancellare la prenotazione gratuitamente o ad effettuare un cambio gratuito;
• Consulta le disposizioni del Ministero della salute del Paese di partenza e di quello di arrivo tramite portali fidati e aggiornati come Covid Checked, Trips Guard e IATA Travel Centre;
• Scarica l’app di BizAway per consultare tutte le tue prenotazioni e accedere comodamente ai voucher senza dover stampare nessun documento di viaggio;

• Effettua il check-in online invece che in aeroporto, così eviterai il rischio di assembramenti;
• Stipula un’assicurazione sanitaria che copra le spese mediche in caso di contrazione del Covid-19.

WHILE TRAVELLING

• Vuoi sapere dove si trovano i tuoi viaggiatori? BizAway sta lavorando ad una funzionalità di Duty of care che ti consentirà di geolocalizzarli e ricevere notifiche sulle trasferte di ogni dipendente;
• Per i pagamenti prediligi l’utizzo della carta di credito rispetto ai contanti;
• Per qualsiasi necessità sul posto, contatta via chat il nostro customer service multilingua disponibile 24/7.

ONCE AT HOME

• Se al tuo ritorno presenti tutti i sintomi del Covid-19, effettua subito un tampone. Agenzie specializzate come Ambimed, con cui abbiamo una partnership, ti consentono di prenotare una visita e ricevere i risultati entro 48h.

Per qualsiasi dubbio non esitate a contattarci! Un agente del customer service potrà assisterti in tempo reale via chat oppure scrivi un’email a support@bizaway.com.

BizAway travels by your side!