BTA calls for minister for travel to ‘champion’ industry

The Business Travel Association has called for the appointment of a minister for travel to help steer the industry through the Covid crisis.

The body also warned that the newly-established Global Travel Taskforce must act ‘swiftly’ to avoid further damage being inflicted on an industry already on its knees.

BTA Chief Executive Clive Wratton said the government’s formal examination of a testing model was ‘long overdue’.

"The BTA has been calling for months for airport testing to be introduced," he said. "Testing trials in other markets have demonstrated high levels of accuracy and effectiveness.

"The British travel industry will only survive if the task force acts swiftly. It must take concrete action to introduce testing in weeks, not months.

"As the representative body for business travel, we urge the Global Travel Taskforce to consult with us, and for testing to then be safely introduced without further delay."

He added the government could take further steps to assist the industry – including the appointment of a dedicated minister.

"The Government could help by appointing a dedicated Minister for Travel, so that we have someone to champion our industry day in day out," Wratton said.

The boss of Flight Centre’s business travel division, Chris Galanty, also implored the taskforce to act quickly to aid the corporate travel market.

"We believe safe travel is the most important way forward and would like to see movement on airport testing, quarantine exemptions for business travellers and transparent guidelines to get the travel industry and economy going," he said.

"Our corporate customers are telling us is that they need to resume business travel as soon as they possibly can, which is why we are working with them to facilitate safe travel.

"Business travel is vital for these individual companies; it is vital for the airlines, hotels and everyone else in the supply chain. And it’s vital for the UK economy. We hope that the implementation of the Global Travel Task Force instils much needed confidence in the business travel sector."

Commenting ahead of the taskforce announcement, American Express Global Business Travel said the corporate travel sector will remain paralysed for as long as quarantine remains in place.

"The paralysis of international business travel is predominantly caused by government restrictions, Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Crawley said. "Companies will not approve business travel, and business travellers will not go out on the road, while blanket restrictions and 14-day quarantines remain in place.

"We need governments to show leadership by pivoting to more intelligent risk management solutions. We’re already seeing examples of this elsewhere in the world, such as the SafeTravel pass between Singapore, China and Malaysia.

"Appropriate testing regimens and the removal of quarantine are essential. Whether the cost of a test is picked up by the corporate or the airline doesn’t really matter, though we do know many companies would absorb the cost if it meant travelling to see clients and prospects again."