Increasing Business Traveler Safety With Technology

September 1, 2020

by: Diana Rose Brandon, Director, Marketing Content

[This article was updated September 9, 2020, to include Deem’s partnership with GeoSure for travel safety scores and Covid-19 map information, and September 11, 2020 to include additional SafetyCheck images.]

My last trip to Europe was amazing. It was chilly and it rained in London – I’m told it usually does. But it was my first visit there and I was taken by the vastness of it all. I hadn’t realized how widely spread the city is, and it was fascinating to discover the differences in the neighborhoods. Having studied Shakespeare through most of my school years, it was surreal to finally be standing in the Globe Theatre, even if it isn’t the original.

Porto, Portugal was inspiring, with its mix of old architecture and new thinking. (But no, JK Rowling didn’t actually write part of her Harry Potter books at that famous bookstore.) Valencia’s city center was colorful and lively – some of the best of Spanish culture, science and art were on display throughout the city. And everywhere we traveled, the people were warm and welcoming and lovely. They were the very best part of my visit. It was a two-week business trip in autumn of 2019. It feels like it was so long ago.

A view of London from a very tall building.

I hadn’t given this trip a second thought, either when I planned it or when I was trekking through airports. I had no qualms about warming up in a small restaurant room with friends in London or sitting amid the crowd to watch the parade through downtown Valencia.

Today, though, planning that trip would be very different. Like many other travelers, I don’t know how confident I’d be going through all those airports or getting on all those flights.

But business is still getting done and certain business trips are necessary. Since no one can – or really wants to – shut the world down, we need to adapt to our current circumstances if we want to thrive again. And that’s where technology comes in.

Technology to help business travelers

At Deem, we’ve been talking about how technology can and is helping to keep people safer. Whether through using wearables or through personalized apps that can help keep us out of harm’s way because they “know” about us, humans have been able to continually develop helpful technology. Getting through a pandemic shouldn’t be any different.

September 9, 2020, we officially announced our partnership with global safety platform Geosure. This collaboration makes possible Deem Travel SafetyCheck, our travel safety feature that informs travelers exactly when they need the information most – during the booking process. Now, business travelers using Deem will quickly and easily see health and safety information for cities and neighborhoods where their potential destination hotels are located.

In the hotel booking module, Travel SafetyCheck includes a current and historic map of known Covid-19 cases, scores for the hotel’s neighborhood on crime, nighttime safety, safety for women, LGBTQ+ and other groups, and more. It offers the information travelers need to know when they’re considering booking a hotel location – which isn’t something they want to find out about from personal experience once they’re in location.

In the hotel booking module, you can either click on the SafetyCheck logo that appears at the top of your page, or on this interstitial within the hotel list. Look for the green shield with white check mark!

In one view of the neighborhood scores, selected by the drop-down in the upper left corner of your screen (just below the search location bar,) you can choose to see only the overall safety score, as shown in this screen shot image.

Air SafetyCheck for Deem business travelers

Partnering with Routehappy by ATPCO, Deem also displays accurate, relevant and detailed airline information to empower travelers at the time of booking flights. For companies that want to support safer business travel – basically, everyone who is sending people out on the road on their behalf – this will help travelers feel safe and confident when they fly again. Instead of travelers needing to look up multiple sources to find the latest airline information, now it will be available exactly where and when they need it, that is, when they’re booking their trip.

With content from more than 120 airlines included, Air SafetyCheck will provide travelers with the most up-to-date flight and fare related information. It enhances the flight information travelers will see in the platform with Reassurance UPAs, or Universal Product Attributes. These are illustrative graphics with easy-to-understand messaging meant to increase traveler awareness and decrease risk.

So what’s included in the information? Travelers will have access to health and safety updates when shopping for flights to help them pick the right airline for their trip. Providing business travelers with all the information they need to make informed decisions, Reassurance UPA categories include:

– Mask requirements

– Blocked seats

– Capacity cap

– Clean air circulation

– Enhanced cabin cleaning

– Food and beverage hygiene

– Updated health safety responses

– Increased airport cleaning

– Passenger and crew wellbeing

– Larger hand sanitizer allowed

– Health screening in place

– Flexible booking options

This content is updated every 24 hours, so travelers can be sure the information is up to date and accurate. And a bonus for businesses and travel managers: there’s no additional cost to use Air SafetyCheck and nothing for you to connect or set up. Here’s how you’ll know it’s available:

First, look for the SafetyCheck link and icon added to the search results air card. It’s at the top right side of the page:

The SafetyCheck link is located at the top right side of your search results.

Clicking the SafetyCheck link opens a pop-up modal with airline-specific information and graphics.

If you’re considering multiple airlines, you’ll be able to see the additional airlines and more information just by scrolling down the modal. So, travelers won’t have to go to different places to find what they need.

Please be aware that if the link doesn’t appear, it’s because there are occasionally times when information for markets and/or airlines are not returned. Routehappy does provide content for 120 airlines, however, which covers about 80% of the global flight schedule. SafetyCheck is also not supported by the IE browser.

It isn’t enough to sit and wait for a vaccine before we start traveling again. While a vaccine is wildly important, we should be using everything at our disposal to help people stay safe while we keep businesses going and people employed. We now have the ability to get the right information to people at the right time. Technology can and is empowering businesses and business travelers to make their best decisions during this crisis.