Insights

FCM is on a mission to tackle corporate travel’s taboos. To get the industry talking about the areas of travel management that are a little prickly and usually avoided. And it just so happens that FESTIVE ROAD are too – that’s why we asked them to help us.

Mental health awareness- managing your career whilst living with a hidden illness ‘But you look fine?’  ‘But You’re always so happy. How could you possibly have a chronic illness ?’ ‘I knew someone who had something similar. She cut out carbs and now she is cured!’  ‘Have you tried yoga? Maybe that would help’ 

We’ve all been anxiously watching business travel trends and patterns for signs of recovery or a “return to normal.” However, as it’s been posited countless times before, we’re not going back to how it was…we’re going somewhere different.

While many companies in the Asia-Pacific region have pledged their environmental activism over the past few years, the proportion committed to net-zero targets stands at a mere 8%, according to a recent report by South Pole and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an international non-profit organisation that runs the world's environmental disclosure system for companies. 

After more than two years into the coronavirus pandemic, Japan is making a big push to return to normalcy by allowing tourist groups into the country, the world’s top tourist destination. Behind closed borders, Japan’s corporate travel scene has also morphed over the past two years. Digital empowerment, brought on forcibly by COVID-19, is increasingly a part of it, said Kenichi Shiraishi, General Manager, FCM Japan at a FCM Th!nk Singapore event earlier this year.

How to manage an immense fear of flying. I know, this is the hardest piece of advice to follow as after all a fear of flying isn’t necessarily a rational thought process. However, it’s worth considering that flying is actually the safest mode of transport – it’s safer than driving, catching a train, climbing a ladder or swimming. I like to remember these statistics when I take a trip.

Workplace mental health is good for business. A happy, fulfilled and energised team is a productive and successful one. It’s why traveller wellbeing is such an important part of our customer travel programmes – and why we walk the walk with our own team, as we strive to be the employer of choice in Asia.

Travel managers across the world have shared their views on travel technology with GBTA and FCM. Among all the data that’s come from the research, it’s clear that travel technology has evolved and its role in travel programmes has changed.

Over the past two years, the coronavirus upended commercial aviation. Singapore Airlines (SIA) was not spared. At the FCM Th!nk Singapore event on April 28, 2022, Bryan Koh, the divisional vice president of e-commerce and distribution for Singapore Airlines, shared how the airline had been working to overcome the hurdles, as well as tap into the opportunities, created by the crisis.

Beginning with the revolution in mobile technology taking root way back from pre-pandemic days to now, FCM has always recognised that the era of personalised travel would one day dominate. Over the years, FCM spruced up its corporate travel offerings, creating a range of services to assist business travellers in enjoying less stressful and more productive business travel.

All travel took a big hit during the pandemic. On a corporate level, virtual sessions quickly and seamlessly replaced on-site visits and face-to-face client meetings. But now that borders are gradually reopening after two years of effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, business travel appears to be taking root again. At FCM’s Th!nk Singapore in April 2022, two months into the lifting of border restrictions for most Asian markets, FCM’s Managing Director for Asia Bertrand Saillet shared his outlook on the state of regional travel. He sees an industry conscientiously striving to make up for lost time, through pivots and adaptations.

The easing of COVID-19 restrictions and uptake of return to office life is likely to spur more business travel. But when will it resume fully to pre-pandemic days? No one can tell but one thing’s for sure: It has changed for good.