WIN Global Travel Network and The Advantage Travel Partnership organised a webinar to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on global business travel, with industry experts as panellists
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of Advantage Travel Partnership from the UK, Diogo Carvalho, managing partner at Travelcare in Portugal, Mark Walton, executive vice president - Strategy, Options Travel in the USA and Mira Bid Shah, general manager at Muthaiga Travel, Kenya discussed the status of their businesses under lockdown and the work they are doing to reboot it. While the focus for each of the speakers, was communication and the exchange of information, the discussion addressed how they can contribute towards creating a positive trend in the travel industry and keep the businesses running. They also spoke about their respective strategies for preparing for the future of business travel in a post-COVID world.
Ms Lo Bue-Said told the webinar that the sharing of best practices has become more important than ever: ?We are trying to keep business travel alive through daily communication with our 120 business travel members, and bringing in the opportunity to discuss a whole range of topics. We have also created a COVID-19 hub on the internet- to try and keep up with the information all around and share it across borders, through a reliable source.?
She also spoke about the need for cooperation across the whole travel industry, saying it was important to "work unilaterally with the supply chains to understand what they are going to put in place.?
While each speaker stressed on the importance of keeping in touch with their clients, the importance of sharing information and utilising the network to share positive messages, they collectively expressed concern over the attitude of many governments towards the travel industry.
While US government agreed a $25 billion bailout to the airline industry, there is no such provision in the UK, Kenya or Spain, the speakers revealed. Although Spain has some rules to protect the consumers from bankruptcy or protect them from some financial woes, they do not have any specialised guidelines for redeeming the losses of the travel industry, Diogo Carvalho told the participants, adding that those who want to travel for work are faced with inconsistent safety measures, which are not always practical.
?There are clients who do not want to visit countries where it is compulsory to quarantine for 14 days. We are still waiting for countries like that to revise their rules,? said Ms Bid Shah.
She revealed that their local airlines find it unrealistic to fly after removing the middle seats, and said it might be unsafe to fly that way.
?As a travel agent, we should fly first, to show our clients, that we are confident to fly and that they can too. For that we need to take videos and share with them online, to show that the airplanes are clean and the airports are safe. It is our duty to teach the clients the new normal,? she added.
According to Ms Lo Bue-Said, the UK government has not recognised the importance of business travel and travel.
?For some reason, travel is always synonymous with holidays. We are on an island but we support global business infrastructure, as we are a global nation, which relies significantly on global travel to run businesses,? she said.
?We do have good relations with the govt but we have not received any support or help. Tackling COVID-19 has taken a priority now. Travel for them is not a necessity, although tourism is a part of our revenue and economic status,? Ms Bid Shah commented.
Image credit: tuastockphoto/Adobe Stock
