Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel News Europe
Business Travel News Europe
  • NEWSOpen Menu
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
  • FEATURESOpen Menu
    • View All Features
  • CONVERSATIONSOpen Menu
    • Interviews
    • Q&As
    • Columnists
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
  • RESOURCESOpen Menu
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • Corporate Travel Index Europe
    • New Horizons – the 2022 sourcing guide
    • Online booking tools – the essential guide
    • The 2022 Hotlist
    • Safety First
    • Travel entry requirements
    • Sustaining the Future
    • Europe's Leading TMCs 2021
    • BTN Europe podcasts
    • Wheels in Motion
    • BTSEKO - CEO Interviews
  • EVENTSOpen Menu
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSOpen Menu
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
  • FEATURESOpen Menu
    • View All Features
  • CONVERSATIONSOpen Menu
    • Interviews
    • Q&As
    • Columnists
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
  • RESOURCESOpen Menu
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • Corporate Travel Index Europe
    • New Horizons – the 2022 sourcing guide
    • Online booking tools – the essential guide
    • The 2022 Hotlist
    • Safety First
    • Travel entry requirements
    • Sustaining the Future
    • Europe's Leading TMCs 2021
    • BTN Europe podcasts
    • Wheels in Motion
    • BTSEKO - CEO Interviews
  • EVENTSOpen Menu
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
  • SUBSCRIBE
Business Travel News Europe
  • Business Travel News Europe on Twitter
  • BTN Europe on LinkedIn
  • BTN Europe on Facebook
  • NEWS
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
    SubscribeBTN Europe NewsletterBTN Europe Magazine
  • FEATURES
    • View All Features
    credit cardsPayback on the cards?
    Fidelity takes return to travel step by stepFidelity takes return to travel step by step
    Six signs of business travel recoverySix signs of business travel recovery

  • CONVERSATIONS
    • Interviews
    • Q&As
    • Columnists
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
    John Sturino, vice president of product and technology, EgenciaWhy 2022 will be the breakthrough year for virtual cards
    Deborah Potts Summit AdvisoryM&As: TMC takeover trend poised to continue
    Doing your due diligence on potential TMC partnersDoing your due diligence on potential TMC partners
  • RESOURCES
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • Corporate Travel Index Europe
    • New Horizons – the 2022 sourcing guide
    • Online booking tools – the essential guide
    • The 2022 Hotlist
    • Safety First
    • Travel entry requirements
    • Sustaining the Future
    • Europe's Leading TMCs 2021
    • BTN Europe podcasts
    • Wheels in Motion
    • BTSEKO - CEO Interviews
  • EVENTS
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
    Business Travel Show Europe

    Business Travel Show Europe is the place where

    Business Travel Accommodation Summit Europe

    September 2022, Virtual

    Entertainment Travel Summit London

    September 29 2022, Virtual

  • SUBSCRIBE

Global

Travel Managers Reiterate Travel Reduction to U.S. in Response to Travel Ban

By Elizabeth West / 9 March 2017 / Contact Reporter
Share

Poll numbers from the Association of Corporate Travel Executive and the Global Business Travel Association on President Trump's revised travel ban for Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan Syria and Yemen showed that corporate travel managers remain critically concerned about the impact of travel restrictions on their companies' business and meetings travel, despite the ban's narrowed scope.

Forty-four percent of 125 travel managers responding to the ACTE survey said the provisions of the new executive order would cause travel difficulties for their companies, with 6 percent of those citing "significant" difficulties. Fifty-five percent said the executive order had heightened their sense of threat toward their U.S.-based travelers who travel abroad.

Nine percent of respondents said their companies had canceled meetings in the United States in favor of finding a more genial location abroad. One reason for this spate of relocations is the claim by 22 percent of survey respondents that their travelers had been saddled with delays during the immigration process or even had faced harassment when entering U.S. borders.

Likewise, U.S. and European polls conducted by GBTA following the release of the new executive order showed similar results to ACTE.

Among 176 U.S. travel managers responding to the GBTA poll, 37 percent expect some level of reduction in their company’s travel because of the revised executive order. Among 148 European travel professionals 47 percent expected some level of reduction in business travel for their company. Additionally, 17 percent of European travel professionals reported that their company had already cancelled business travel to the United States because of the executive orders issued.

Going forward, 38 percent of European business travel professionals said their companies would be less willing to send business travelers to the United States because of the executive order and 45 percent indicated their companies will be less willing to plan meetings and events in the United States.

Charles C. Foster, chairman of Houston-based Foster LLP and former immigration policy advisor to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, told BTN that the scope of the new ban limits the impact on business travel. “In reality, there are not a lot of business travelers from the six countries still included in the ban,” he said. “If you are from one of these countries, extreme vetting has already been going on, so [the U.S.] hasn’t been issuing a lot of visas [for travelers] there. The idea that these executive orders have stopped a significant flow of people from entering the U.S. is erroneous.”

Foster confirmed that both the fear of immigration delays has increased as have actual immigration delays along with complications in the visa application process.

“When people are coming into the country there is a belief that there is a greater probability that they will be sent to secondary questioning,” said Foster, noting that after a 10- or 12-hour flight to the United States, secondary questioning is the last thing businesses or their travelers would want. "They could be delayed for 30 minutes or 8 hours after a primary inspection—for whatever reason. The point is they don't know.”

That's the bigger issue, said Foster, the chilling effect overall. "I live in Houston where we have some of the world’s biggest medical and energy conferences that will invite new visa applications. The chilling effect on those [could be significant]. Foster noted the visa application process itself is being delayed, where applications are going under review "for reasons that are not disclosed."

Where the ACTE study showed 22 percent of respondents had already seen delays and problems entering the U.S., the GBTA study revealed similar concerns moving forward. Forty-one percent cited increased traveler harassment in general as a concern, while 34 percent expressed uncertainty regarding green card and approved visa credibility to enter the U.S. and 34 percent noted concern regarding harassment of U.S. travelers to and from the Middle East. Only one-third of GBTA survey respondents did not share in any of the concerns listed 

“The results of [the GBTA] poll show the perception of the United States as a welcoming destination for business travel has been altered,” said GBTA executive director and COO Mike McCormick. “GBTA continues to be a proponent for expanding proven security programs and developing new technology to facilitate information-sharing among governments to ensure travelers are always vetted properly, making us all more safe and secure.”

“The U.S. does not need any excuse for companies to prefer travel to other countries," said ACTE executive director Greeley Koch. "Ultimately, we are talking about jobs here. Jobs at the airports, in hotels, in surface transportation and in restaurants. The business travel community is weighing the benefits of this ban against its more obvious liabilities.”

More Global
Related
South African Airways Enters Bankruptcy Protection

South African Airways' board has voted to put the carrier into a "business rescue" bankruptcy protection program to save it from collapse. ...

VAT Law Change Could Trigger Business Travel Cost Hikes in Germany

Corporates could lose their ability to reclaim value-added tax on hotel and other bookings in Germany after the country's parliament last week approved...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Updates Visa Waiver Program Portal

U.S. Customs and Border Protection last week introduced two features to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, the online portal through which...

SPONSORED CONTENT

Don't let NDC take a backseat in 2022
Don't let NDC take a backseat in 2022By FCM Travel Solutions

Does New Distribution Capability have the power to deliver on new corporate travel priorities and... KEEP READING

More Global

South African Airways Enters Bankruptcy Protection
VAT Law Change Could Trigger Business Travel Cost Hikes in Germany
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Updates Visa Waiver Program Portal
Yapta Continues Growth Spurt with Japanese TMC Deal

VIEW ALL
  • Most Read
  • Most Shared
  1. Traveldoo put up for sale by Expedia Group
  2. Israel drops on-arrival Covid tests for passengers
  3. Study identifies the corporates best tackling air travel emissions
  4. Air France announces new business class cabin
  5. Gray Dawes adds PSNGR1 to booking tool options
  1. EU to remove mask mandate advice for air travel
  2. Global airline capacity back to 83 per cent of pre-Covid seats
  3. Travel managers foresee less travel long-term but more responsibilities
  4. Traveldoo put up for sale by Expedia Group
  5. European hotel prices exceed pre-pandemic levels
Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel News Europe
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • EDITORIAL CALENDAR
  • Business Travel Show Europe
  • Business Travel News Europe on Twitter
  • BTN Europe on LinkedIn
  • BTN Europe on Facebook
BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS EUROPE
NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP
Business Travel News
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Editorial calendar
  • Editorial guidelines
  • Subscribe to BTN Europe
  • Subscribe to BTN U.S.
  • Subscribe to Travel Procurement
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & conditions
Northstar Travel Group
  • Corporate travel
  • Business Travel Show
  • Business Travel Awards
  • BTN U.S.
  • The Beat
  • Travel Procurement

  • Travel Technology
  • Travel Tech Show
  • Phocuswire
  • Phocuswright
  • Intelliguide
  • Meetings & incentives
  • M&IT
  • AMI
  • ConventionSource
  • M&IT Awards

  • Retail travel
  • Travel Weekly
  • Travel Pulse

  • Northstar Travel Group
  • View all Northstar brands
BTNGroup
Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel NewsTravel ProcurementThe BeatBusiness Travel Show Europe
Northstar Travel Group
Copyright ©2022, Northstar Travel Media Ltd, The Epworth, 25 City Road, London EC1Y 1AA, UK
RRManagement rrtestprocurement