UK transport secretary Grant
Shapps has said that face-to-face business travel will return as the economy
recovers and that those who think it has been replaced by videoconferencing
are mistaken.
Speaking
at a hybrid event run by the Policy Exchange thinktank on the future of
transport in the UK, Shapps said, “Videoconferencing, they argue, is now
embedded as the way we do business. But I think that prediction will quickly be
overtaken by reality, as our economy bounces back.”
He
added, “A more productive economy is a busier one, creating new reasons to
travel. It might not always be for the same reasons, or at the same times as
before. But people need – and like – to travel.”
In Thursday’s speech, Shapps argued that the UK could be a European
leader by 2050 by investing in travel and transport infrastructure across the
UK.
He
said: “It’s about sparking the talent, the flair, and the self-belief of
regions that once led the world in productivity, ensuring every region has the
opportunity to be as productive. If we can do that, then we can achieve
something remarkable.
“Every
part of the country, unleashed from the restraints of outdated public
infrastructure, thereby matching the south-east’s productivity… well, that
would make the UK the
biggest economy in Europe by 2050.
“Transport links are the arteries through which the lifeblood of
human interaction flows, so as our country prospers and our economy grows, so
too will our transport system.”
The BTA has today launched research that shows that the UK economy has lost £5.4 billion a week due to the restrictions on business travel.