The Advantage Travel Partnership, WIN Global Travel Network and The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) have come together to support British American Business (BAB), a group of 400 UK and US businesses, which is lobbying for the introduction of compulsory COVID-19 testing for travellers 48 hours before departure.
Compulsory testing will allow businesses across the UK and the US to bypass quarantine and restore business travel across the Atlantic at the earliest, according to the organisations.
In a joint statement, Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of the Advantage Travel Partnership, and Dave Hilfman, executive director of the GBTA said, ?We fully support the COVID-19 double testing method that has been piloted at airports in the UK and Europe, followed by a second test within days of arriving in destination. We believe this will be a vital step to revive transatlantic business travel, which has suffered due to the pandemic, over the past six months. It is critical that the UK and US governments adopt a coordinated approach in responding to COVID-19. There is a lack of understanding on how the travel industry works, particularly the business travel sector and its value in contributing to UK jobs and the economy.?
?Public safety is paramount and should weigh heavily in discussions of restarting travel, but the quarantine measures put in place will deter any business traveller, whereas the cost of a test before departure and another one after arrival is a much more reasonable and practical option. Unless we start to improve transatlantic trading conditions, the fall out for the rest of the economic year and 2021 would be catastrophic,? they added.
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