Figureheads from the Business Travel Association, Focus Travel Partnership, the Federation of Small Business and several UK-based TMCs held a virtual meeting with government advisors to raise their concerns about Covid-19 policies and a lack of engagement with the business travel sector.

The meeting was attended by advisors from the Department for Transport (DfT), Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy.

One of the main issues raised during the meeting was a lack of engagement with the business travel industry despite the sector facing some of the biggest challenges in the face of rapid changes in policy ¨C most recently the reintroduction of PCR tests and pre-departure testing and the addition of several African countries to the red list in response to the emergence of the new Omicron variant.

¡°Business travellers and TMCs are faced with exorbitant and unexpected costs when government travel policies change suddenly, and consumer confidence is peeling away,¡± said Cilla Goldberger, director of Focus Travel Partnership and MD of ABT-UK. ¡°If we were given more time or a heads up, these costs and losses could be mitigated.¡±

Goldberger also mentioned a statement by the World Health Organization following the discovery of Omicron that said implementing blanket travel restrictions would not prevent the spread of new variants. This statement is one of the main arguments being used by the International Air Transport Association to lobby against travel bans.

Adrian Parkes, non-executive chairman of Focus, pointed out that the partnership¡¯s TMC members are responsible for a huge amount of business travel, which he said plays a key part in the government¡¯s strategy for a global Britain. The BTA estimates that each international business trip is worth ?34,000 for the UK economy.

¡°Despite this, for the most part, our sector has been ignored,¡± Parkes commented. ¡°Government seems to have little understanding on the implications of a Saturday evening tweet containing significant travel policy change and the roles our TMC partners play when it comes to implementing and fulfilling these policies to travellers with immediate effect.

¡°The issue we have is that TMCs are central to the organisation of business travel, but we are not part of the conversation with government.¡±

Clive Wratten, CEO of the BTA, echoed Parkes¡¯ sentiments, saying: ¡°We have not had enough engagement with government to allow us to manage the situation correctly and arm us with all the information our clients need. We feel very ignored.¡±

The BTA reiterated its current lobbying points to the government¡¯s advisors, which are:

• To cap the price of PCR tests at ?55. There has been much criticism since PCR tests came back into play that a list of companies providing approved tests on the government website is falsely displaying low prices that are not obtainable when clicking through to the provider¡¯s website.
• For the government to provide a dashboard for the travel sector on its website to flag countries that are moving towards the red list.
• For the government to provide an exit plan so businesses can plan for the future.
• For the government to engage more with the business travel community, including Focus Travel Partnership and the BTA.
• For the government to provide financial support to TMCs if trading is restricted.

Furthermore, TMC bosses attending the meeting attested to waning consumer confidence.

Paul Cronje, CEO of Clyde Travel Management, who joined the meeting from South Africa ¨C which is currently on the red list ¨C said: ¡°I¡¯ve been stuck in South Africa, but the country is managing the Omicron crisis well and I feel safe. The country is getting a raw deal from following the rules. My sector of marine travel and offshore has continued to travel throughout the pandemic but has borne astronomical costs due to its need to follow stringent health and safety protocols. These costs will ultimately hit the end user.¡±

Katrina Pierce from the Federation of Small Business added: ¡°SME companies are exhausted from the impacts of these most recent Covid-19 restrictions and morale is low. The government needs to provide a roadmap out of these current restrictions to build back confidence. We have seen the positive impacts of this before and it needs to happen again.¡±

In response to the concerns raised, the DfT apologised for the frustration caused and promised to add the BTA and Focus Travel Partnership to its list of key stakeholders. They also committed to escalate the concerns to ministers.

The advisors claimed that testing processes are being sped up and ¡®bad practice is being stripped out¡¯.

Furthermore, they confirmed that UK business travellers can use just one PCR test for short return, short-haul trips rather than two.