The UK Parliament has launched the All Party Parliamentary
Group (APPG) on Business Travel, raising the profile of the sector within the
government.
The group is made up of MPs from across the political
spectrum with an interest in business travel and is chaired by Stephen Hammond,
MP for Wimbledon and former parliamentary under secretary of state for transport.
During the APPG’s first meeting on Tuesday, MPs heard from
industry speakers such as Clive Wratten, CEO of the Business Travel Association
(BTA); Suzanne Horner, CEO of Gray Dawes Group and chair of the BTA; Drew Crawley,
CCO of American Express Global Business Travel (GBT); and Thomas Haagensen,
group markets director of Easyjet.
The group has been formed as the business travel sector
continues to struggle under the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic, with
travel restrictions hampering companies’ plans to return to international
business trips. According to the BTA, the sector contributes more than £220
billion to UK GDP every year, but with demand remaining low around 10,000 jobs
are at risk.
Speaking at the meeting, Wratten re-iterated the BTA’s call for
urgent government support for business travel as the “lifeblood of the economy”.
The BTA has proposed a ‘parachute package’ of measures, including an extension
of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the temporary suspension of Air
Passenger Duty, business rates relief and the development and approval of
traveller testing to replace the current quarantine rules.
Meanwhile, Crawley re-iterated GBT chief executive Paul
Abbott’s recent letter to transport secretary Grant Shapps and chancellor Rishi
Sunak in which he proposed exempting business travellers from quarantine
measures. “We believe that bilaterally agreed quarantine exemptions for
business travel, booked through a TMC, is a very viable proposition,” Crawley
said.
Hammond commented: “I look forward to making the case for
business travel and making some quick submissions to government to help the
industry, as well as formulating longer-term policy ideas with the APPG.”