A cross-party group of MPs and industry bodies in Britain’s Houses
of Parliament has said that the business travel sector is operating at less
than 10 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and is “still in lockdown”.
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for business travel
convened on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on
the sector.
The
session was chaired by Stephen Hammond MP, Clive Wratten, CEO of the Business
Travel Association (BTA), Suzanne Neufang, CEO of the Global Business Travel
Association (GBTA), Graeme Elliott, director government affairs and sustainability
and Simon Hawkins, director of UK-US sales, both of Virgin Atlantic.
The group addressed MPs from across the Commons on the pressing issues facing the sector.
Opening
the meeting, BTA CEO Clive Wratten said: "It is not an exaggeration to say
that as a sector, we are still in lockdown. We look enviously at the
hospitality sector operating at 50 per cent whilst understanding their
frustrations. We are not even operating at 10 per cent of pre-pandemic levels
with no end to this crisis in sight."
The
GBTA’s Suzanne Neufang said: "Globally, the UK has seen the sharpest
contraction of business travel spend. The opening of UK-US transatlantic routes
is critical. The US is the UK's largest single trading partner, accounting for
15.7 per cent of UK exports in 2019. Similarly, the UK is one of the US's most
important trading partners. We must work together with the Atlantic Charter's
taskforce to get these routes open quickly and safely."
Wratten
and Neufang issued a joint statement at the end of the event. They said: "UK-US
relations are at a critical point. It is only with our two associations joining
together that we can keep momentum around the importance of business travel
across the globe. Today's APPG was an important step and we thank the MPs
present for their dedicated support at such a difficult time. We look forward
to further Government interactions on both sides of the Atlantic that will get
us trading and doing business face-to-face once more."