American Express Global Business Travel has introduced Travel Vitals, a new hub providing travellers and travel managers with a wealth of information before, during and after a business trip.
Launched in response to increasingly complex procedures and information issued in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the hub aggregates details from ¡®hundreds of sources¡¯ and includes travel restrictions by destination and highlights Covid-19 infection rate spikes and hot spots.
The free resource can be searched by destination, airline, airport, hotel chain, train operator and ground transport provider, and pushes itinerary-specific information through GBT¡¯s digital channels including its mobile app and booking tools.
Travel Vitals will also trigger alerts when trips are booked to high-risk destinations.
¡°Trip information is going to be central to building trust and confidence,¡± says Mark McSpadden, GBT¡¯s vice president of product strategy and experience.
¡°We have to quickly aggregate relevant data in a world in which guidance changes daily. It¡¯s dynamic, and we¡¯re updating it daily. Given the fluidity of the situation, we can only be as up to date as the information available. For that reason, we welcome additional validated sources.¡±
McSpadden continues: ¡°We¡¯re doing this because for the foreseeable future we have to manage every trip as if we were planning an event. Door-to-door travel management has long been an aspiration for our industry, but that isn't enough in these circumstances. The role of the TMC now begins as soon as the need to travel is first identified and ends long after the traveller has returned home.¡±