In the past few months, COVID-19 – the disease caused by the novel coronavirus – has become a global pandemic. Schools are shut, people are working from home, and there’s been a sudden and huge reduction in leisure and business travel. The global travel industry has sadly spun into a state of disarray, panic, and confusion.

The same questions are on every business traveler’s lips: When can we travel again? What does this mean for business? How will it affect our work financially?

The good news is that business travel will return in time. But thankfully, there’s an efficient alternative to business travel during these trying times that may even change the way we approach business travel in the future: virtual business travel.

Curious? Keep reading to learn how you can help maintain business continuity during the pandemic.

A Halt in Business Travel Globally

As mentioned, business travel all over the world has been dramatically reduced — whether travel by air, train, bus or any other means. Thousands and thousands of travelers have had to cut back on business travel to avoid the frightening health risks of coronavirus.

Trade shows, events, and industry conferences have been canceled all around the world. Big business meetings have been scrapped. And important jobs such as on-site inspections and venue tours have been set aside.

As businesses are unable to travel, it means that these important jobs are unable to be fulfilled. As such, this results in an eventual loss in income.

While most business travel volume will pick up eventually, there’s no telling how long it will take for things to resume as usual. With the uncertainty of the pandemic, it could take months or even years for us to travel for business as we’re used to.

Even when business travel does return, the truth is that some portion of business travel will never make a comeback. Some level of business travel that was occurring before coronavirus will never happen again. This is because so many of the businesses paying for that travel will vanish.

With the likelihood of traveling any time soon looking bleak, it’s more important than ever to look for alternatives to classic business travel.

Enter Remote Presence.

Remote Presence as an Alternative to Business Travel

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, both companies and business people are learning that they must get creative with alternatives to business travel.

In many cases, most business travel can be replaced by today’s high-tech teleconferencing and telepresence technology.

Here’s where we introduce Avatour, the world’s most advanced form of Remote Presence technology. The Avatour platform enables remote participants to experience a real place in real-time anywhere in the world. And, they can communicate and interact live with the people who are on-location and are displaying the spot.

Using Avatour, you’ll feel like you’re standing there in the location you’re seeing. So much more technologically advanced than other telepresence services, become amazed as you have full control over what you’re looking at as you browse the location through a VR headset, phone screen, or desktop.

This revolutionary technology means that we can prevent the need for traveling for many different purposes. That’s especially for those that work in any roles that buy, sell, lease, build, renovate, or manage properties and would otherwise be required for jobs such as on-site inspections or staff training.

Likewise, Avatour works well for many other industries that often require travel, such as sales companies that often host trade shows and need to demonstrate or explain products to potential clients.

With Avatour, you can welcome your team to any place in the world in real time. Conduct venue walkthroughs, site inspections, and on-site training without spending time and money on business travel.

And as you can imagine, Avatour Remote Presence makes business more productive by allowing real-time on-site meetings without the need for arranging, paying for, and spending time traveling between locations. Overall, Avatour offers many business travel alternatives.

With an increase in Remote Presence in business during the coronavirus crisis, it’s expected that even when business travel is possible again, it will be greatly reduced. Business owners will soon understand how efficient and affordable Remote Presence technology is as an alternative and will no longer want to waste time and money on long and costly travel trips.

Businesses are discovering right now that they can get more done and so much more affordably by using Remote Presence technology than they’d ever believed possible.

Another plus is that by using Avatour, businesses can commit to reducing their carbon footprint, and doing their part for the planet. Not only can Avatour benefit businesses financially but it can also help them meet their sustainability goals.

How Remote Presence Works

So, how exactly does Remote Presence with Avatour work?

All you’ll need for virtual business travel is a low-cost 360° camera, a selfie stick, and an optional audio headset. This equipment is used to offer live virtual walkthroughs and tours of a location or venue, allowing users to speak directly with one another.

Schedule Avatour

Using the Avatour Host app on a smartphone or tablet, arrange a time for participants to meet when you’re set up in your chosen location.

Visit Location

At the meeting time, up to five guests located anywhere in the world can join to view your location in real-time using a VR headset or any mobile phone or desktop. For a truly immersive experience, we recommend using a VR headset.

Discover how AVATOUR Remote Presence can work for your business – get started here.