The UK government is looking at allowing short-term international business travellers arriving in the country an exemption from quarantine but has appeared to rule out an end to self-isolation for British business travellers returning home.
The news comes in the recently published report of the global travel taskforce.
The report, put together by the taskforce in consultation with various industry stakeholders including the BTA, American Express GBT, Heathrow Airport and Eurostar, says: “The taskforce heard that business travel is expected to recover most slowly and that there is a clear need to boost confidence.
“An exemption for short-term business trips from the need to self-isolate on arrival would clearly have a major beneficial impact in supporting such journeys, which make an important economic contribution to the UK.”
It added: “We recognise the value of international business travel and tourism to the UK, so we propose further work with industry and health authorities to develop a new short stay self-isolation exemption for international business travellers.”
The report recognised the contribution of business travel to the success of events, which accounted for £4.5 billion in spend in 2018, and said an exemption could help towards the promotion of “major events in 2022, including the Commonwealth Games, Festival 2022 and the Platinum Jubilee”.
The taskforce said, “We will work with industry and clinicians to study the feasibility of this proposal, including building on the conference pilots and examining how we can restart business conferences in a Covid-secure manner as early as possible in 2021.”
It is made clear in the report that any exemption would explicitly not extend to socialising or any other non-business-related activity.
The report also does not address the idea of an exemption from self-isolation for British business travellers returning to the UK.
American Express GBT chief commercial officer Andrew Crawley said, “We welcome the recognition by government that quarantine does not work for business travel. That an exemption is being seriously considered for short business trips of under three days is a positive step. It is a proven model used by other countries.
"The government should now remove uncertainty for the business community by setting a target date in January 2021 to implement the quarantine exemptions with the US and Europe.”
The BTA has recently been lobbying the aviation minister Robert Courts for a wider business travel exemption.
The report also includes findings of a joint survey by the BTA and the Department for Transport.
It reveals that few businesses expect to recommence booking air travel in the next three months. Those who do expect to recommence air travel generally do so in order to meet clients (25 per cent), visit another part of the organisation (19 per cent), or for construction/other site visits (17 per cent).
For the next six months, businesses are more hopeful, but still less than half expect to recommence booking air travel.