With services like Skype and Facetime available, is it still necessary for business people to travel? With businesses becoming more tech reliant and technologically advanced, many companies feel that travelling for business is unnecessary.
However, for some travelling for business is still important and here’s why:
1) NOTHING BEATS FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION
Although you may technically be seeing the person, it’s still very hard to read facial expressions and body language through an on-screen image or video.
Having a face-to-face conversation not only allows you to read a person’s reaction, but you can also use your body language to your advantage. 
Body language can be used to portray confidence during a presentation, while positive gestures can be used to communicate positivity – something that may be missed during a digital meeting.
Coordinating long and important meetings that suit both parties can be difficult when you aren’t going to be in the same room. It is for this reason and many others, face-to-face communication is preferable. There are fewer issues calculating time zones and meetings aren’t reliant on internet speed and quality.
We think travelling for business is still important because when people have no option but to sit down with one another, it makes meetings feel less like a chat online and more like an official business appointment.
2) AN EASY WAY TO ALWAYS LOOK PROFESSIONAL
We all saw the hilarious (but also very cute) video of a professor being interviewed live on BBC. The problem with being able to conduct an interview or business meeting from anywhere means that we are more accessible, but it also means there is more room for things to go wrong.
Take Professor Robert Kelly for example, he was being interviewed in his office and looked very professional right up until his children decided to interrupt him and pay his office a visit.
The best way to ensure things like this don’t happen and you retain your professional demeanour is to make sure you and you client are sitting in the same room. Again, face-to-face communication is important, which means travelling to meet your client is too.
If you haven’t seen the video of Professor Robert Kelly’s interview on BBC, we suggest you watch it and use it as a precautionary tale.
3) SHOW COMMITMENT
Finally, making the effort to go to your clients or meet with your business partners shows you are willing to invest in your business relationships. 
Spending time and money on consolidating and building business relationships and trust is often seen as a sign of commitment.
So, to answer the question “is travelling for business a dying trend,” we’d have to say, no. Travelling is still an incredibly important aspect of doing business.
When last did you travel for business?