Between the comments coming out of this week's meeting of the G7 leaders and the move by the UK government for prorogation of parliament, little happened this week to dissuade people on both sides of the Channel that a no-deal Brexit was imminent.
Any travel manager who has ever been responsible for an employee's international trip knows that the complexity of any trip increases with different jurisdictions, currencies and languages. But are current events making it even more necessary for travel guidance to contain more information than whether a visa or electronic travel authorisation is necessary?
Travellers have always faced a range of possibilities at different borders but with increasing geopolitical tensions it's worth looking at what to consider and what is happening in possible business destinations.
In theory Brexit should not affect the status of EU passport holders entering the UK or UK passport holders entering other European countries because during the entire tenure of its EU membership the UK, like Ireland, has always had immigration controls at its borders because it has never been part of Schengen, the area of Europe which functions as one jurisdiction when it comes to international travel.
As anyone who has travelled through a UK airport knows, there is one queue for UK and EU passports and another for "All other passports". There is no reason for this to change. Then again there is no reason for it not to.
Travel managers need to be aware that the rules surrounding their executives' ability to travel for business in Europe may be subject to inconsistency and change.
But it's not only Europe.
The United States has been taking an increasingly fluid approach to its immigration policy which has been causing challenges for business travellers and their managers because of both changes to requirements and inconsistency in interpretations of rules among ports of entry.
For example, under the North American Free Trade Agreement Canadians can apply at the US border for a TN visa which was created to grant professionals, ie business travellers, temporary entry for work. Stories are emerging in the press of management consultants being stopped because the rules say that such foreign entrants cannot manage US staff.
For veteran travellers to some less popular business destinations border rule changes and inconsistency is nothing new — there are many tales of bribes and indirect access routes — but changes in official policy inevitably cause delays and confusion.
Whether or not a company's travellers are immediately directly affected, it is worth taking note and preparing advice notes and contingency plans accordingly.