Week in Review
Last Friday, President Trump signed an executive order barring travel to the United States from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
A GBTA survey finds the travel ban will likely create short- and long-term travel disruption, with nearly one third (31 percent) of travel professionals expecting the ban to cause a reduction in their company’s business travel in the next three months.
The Washington Post shares findings from the survey, claiming Trump’s travel order could make it difficult for Americans who want to travel abroad and highlighting what travel professionals anticipate in the immediate and long-term future.
According to MeetingsNet, the executive order has already raised concerns for the meetings, travel and hospitality industries.
Shortly after the executive order was implemented, there was some factually inaccurate information presented about the Visa Waiver Program, which GBTA was quick to correct and defend. According to Skift, top hotel executives have also weighed in on the importance of the Visa Waiver Program.
After a computer glitch forced United to ground domestic flights last week, The Washington Post reports Delta Air Lines grounded all its domestic flights on Sunday due to a system outage. Bloomberg notes the airline cancelled over 100 flights on Monday as a result.
Skift reports more companies are allowing their travelers to use sharing economy services. According to a new report from GBTA in partnership with American Express, 50 percent of corporate travel policies now allow ride-sharing services and 30 percent of policies allow home-sharing services.
According to Buying Business Travel, GBTA predicts India is poised to move up from the 10th largest global business travel market to the 6th by 2019. GBTA also forecasts an 11.6 percent growth in business travel spend, reaching $36.8 billion in 2017.
Skift reports the TSA will reduce non-member access to Precheck lanes starting this month. In the past, the TSA has randomly selected non-member passengers for expedited screening via the Precheck lanes.
BBC notes Heathrow Airport’s planned third runway will allow for more connecting flights between UK airports. Buying Business Travel reports the airport must support more domestic routes by 2030 in order to receive government permission to build the runway.
Business Traveller finds Sydney Airport now offers tailored, real-time flight information to passengers, as a result of a collaboration with social media platform Biztweet. Passengers flying to or from the airport who tweet their flight number to @flySYD will receive up-to-date flight information.
According to Hotelmarketing’com, a new Expedia experiment aims to reduce hotel booking stress. By wiring volunteers with electrodes and observing their muscle movements and behavior, researchers are able to determine where frustrations arise when booking online.
Business Traveller reports Qantas launched a new business loyalty program targeting small and medium-sized businesses.
According to Travel Pulse, Hilton revealed major changes to its loyalty program, notably the addition of the ability to combine points and money when booking a stay.
GBTA commends the Senate for the confirmation of Elaine Chao as the next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
According to Skift, the hotel industry believes 2017 could be the year that business travel bounces back. Hotel executives from Hilton, STR, Best Western, and more weighed in on the issue.
Buying Business Travel shares British Airways’ new credit card charges will come into effect on February 7. Passengers who use credit cards for bookings will be charged a 1 percent fee of their total ticket price, but no more than a maximum of £20.
This week’s list comes from MeetingsNet:
English 
Spanish 
French 
Portuguese