The government’s increasingly common tactic of trailing official announcements in advance has been criticised by the CEO of the Business Travel Association, who has called for clarity over a new testing regime for arrivals that was indicated by cabinet office minister Michael Gove yesterday.
Clive Wratten, the BTA’s CEO said, “The BTA supports the Government in prioritising public health. However, trailing an announcement on the introduction of testing for travellers arriving in the UK and further international travel restrictions, that then doesn’t happen, is causing wholly avoidable stress and uncertainty at a time when our industry is already fighting for survival.
“The travel management community urgently needs clarity on when testing will be introduced, and reassurance that our industry will not be thrown off the cliff by a hard stop to furlough at the end of April. We urge the government to work with us and other badly impacted sectors to craft targeted support packages to avoid further mass job losses and to enable vital industries like ours to contribute to the British economy once more.”
Business levels for many TMCs remain around 10 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, while redundancies are believed to have affected more than 50 per cent of staff across the TMC sector.
The German government has just announced a two-test strategy for arrivals from 11 January.