Check-in with Suzanne

GBTA continues its mission to broaden its global reach – and maintain our commitment to transparency.

Last week, GBTA jointly announced with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) a partnership to host an inaugural APAC Travel Summit in Bangkok, December 8-9, 2022. We are excited to work with PATA to host this two-day event which will include presentations, learning and an exhibition that explores a responsible, sustainable future in the tourism, MICE, corporate and blended travel sectors in Asia-Pacific. (Interested in sponsoring, exhibiting or attending? Drop an email to  events@pata.org.)

Today is the day of our Annual Business Meeting where we’ll share GBTA’s 2021 financial summary as well as highlights and achievements for the year. And importantly, it’s also the place to be for the GBTA Candidate Forum, where those vying for open seats on the GBTA Board of Directors will share their election platforms. Attend this virtual meeting in real-time (10am ET, register here) or catch it in replay to make informed choices when voting opens for GBTA members on July 26.

Making your final plans for GBTA’s Convention 2022? Sunday afternoon, August 14, is a day not to be missed as it marks the unveiling of GBTA’s first-ever Sustainability Pavilion. During select times during Convention, attendees can attend roundtables on key sustainability topics for travel buyers and suppliers, featuring high-level experts from GBTA’s Sustainability Leadership Council. Attendees can also learn from sustainability experts in the Green Village exhibition space. If you care about sustainability in business travel, put a visit to the Pavilion on your Convention agenda.

Suzanne 

News to Know:

Europe’s public transport recovery remains ‘uneven’

The use of public transport has recovered significantly over recent months in western Europe but the picture ranges hugely between countries. A study by research group ING Think found that public transport traffic has now recovered to above 80 per cent of pre-Covid levels across western Europe. The rebound is much more advanced in countries such as France and Germany, which are now seeing more public transport traffic than before the pandemic.

London hotel rates reach new monthly record

London hotel rates reached their highest ever level in June at more than £200 as the resurgence in travel gained more momentum. Figures from hotel data specialist STR found that the average daily rate (ADR) for properties in the UK capital reached £209 – this was highest monthly room rate on record for London in STR’s database. London hotels also achieved record-breaking revpar (revenue per available room) last month at £173.60, as occupancy in the city climbed to 83.1 per cent, which is the highest level since July 2019. But STR pointed out that hotel occupancy in London was still 7.3 percentage points lower than recorded in June 2019. London, alongside other major European destinations such as Paris, has seen a surge in demand in recent months with London’s ADR approaching pre-pandemic levels by February 2022 when they were at £130.70.

3 ways summer travel is getting cheaper despite airline chaos and sky-high inflation

Airline travel, hotel and motel accommodation, and car and truck rental all got cheaper last month, according to the Consumer Price Index. The decline in airfares snapped a seven-month streak of price hikes, offering the first sign of relief after the largest increases in decades. Car rental costs sit well below the peak seen last year. Hotel inflation has been stickier, but the June slump marks the biggest one-month drop since the start of the year.

Singapore expecting 4-6 million international visitor arrivals in 2022

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has announced its forecast for international visitor arrivals (IVA), following the city’s reopening of the borders under the Vaccinated Travel Framework launched on 1 April 2022. With global travel picking up pace, Singapore expects to receive between 4 and 6 million visitors in 2022. In the first half of 2022, Singapore clocked 1.5 million visitor arrivals, nearly 12 times more compared to the same period in 2021 (119,000). Tourism receipts (TR) reached an estimated S$1.3 billion in the first quarter of the year. While IVA and TR remain a fraction of Singapore’s pre-pandemic numbers, STB remains of the view that tourism flows will recover to pre-COVID levels by the mid-2020s.

GBTA News and Reminders:

GBTA Convention 2022

We’re getting back to business travel and back to business. GBTA Convention 2022 will bring together the best of the best from around the industry and beyond to re-connect, re-imagine and re-create the future of business travel.