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Check-in With Suzanne

We’ve turned the page on a new calendar year, and challenges of the pandemic remain. But there are glimmers of progress as the first hot spots of omicron plateau and start to cool off, in what will hopefully be a trend that continues. On Thursday, we’ll release the January GBTA COVID-19 poll findings which reflect the current state of business travel including the impact of the omicron variant.   This month we saw a positive indicator for larger in-person conferences. The Consumer Electronics Show – billed as the “most influential tech event in the world” – returned as a…

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Travel Program Communication During COVID-19 and Beyond: What Business Travelers Want to Know and How They Want to Hear It

Alexandria, VA  – As business travel resumes amid an ongoing pandemic, keeping connected with business travelers has taken on renewed urgency for companies and their travel managers. It’s critical for travelling employees to stay on top of changes and it has accelerated the need for travel managers to communicate often complex, fast-changing information while not…

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Check-In with Suzanne

Welcome back to the New Year! I hope you had the chance to enjoy the magic of the holiday season and share some meaningful moments with the people you care about most. That’s what really matters. I took some “real” time off and so did all the GBTA staff with a week-long holiday hiatus –…

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As omicron emerges, the business travel industry shows concern for potential economic impact but stays the course on returning to corporate travel

The recent emergence and yet-unknown trajectory of a new COVID-19 variant is the latest development on the road to recovery for the business travel industry. Due to the omicron variant, many business travel practitioners are concerned about the potential economic impacts in the industry. Most companies, however, are taking a wait-and-see approach before introducing new…

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Check-In with Suzanne

Is anyone completely comfortable yet with “expecting the unexpected”? Me either. Not an easy task in current times, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been some upsides amid the challenges.  The omicron variant is one of the latest developments testing our resolve. On Thursday, GBTA will release the findings from our special quick poll about the emergence of omicron as another twist in…

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Check-in With Suzanne

It might have felt like déjà vu this past week as the world started to assess the fast-emerging news about the omicron variant. Earlier in the year, we faced the discovery of the delta variant and whose effects we are still tracking. New COVID-19 developments will likely continue for the foreseeable future and will demand our ongoing agility and resiliency.   GBTA is staying agile, too. Out of an abundance of care and safety, working with our VDR partners In Europe, we made the decision to reschedule what would have been this week’s GBTA Europe Conference. (From the feedback we received, we know many of…

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GBTA Calls for Clear and Consistent Approach to Travel Restrictions in Light of the Omicron Variant

As regions and governments around the world assess the potential impact of the fast-emerging omicron variant, and therefore what actions to take, GBTA continues to encourage a clear, consistent and thoughtful approach, especially in terms of keeping country borders open to travelers. GBTA supports that any actions taken should focus on vaccination or recovery status…

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GBTA Convention 2021 Sets The Pace For Business Travel’s Return

Business travel is on the road to recovery, as evidenced by the forecasts, insights and turnout at the Global Business Travel Association’s 2021 Convention held last week in Orlando, FL.    After navigating months of pandemic-related planning, the event—the world’s largest business travel expo annually—attracted over 3,500 registered professionals from more than 20 countries, and featured 170+ travel industry and expert speakers, 50 education sessions and 200+ exhibitors. The state of the industry, the future…

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Business Travel in Western Europe Expected to Fully Recover by 2024; Emerging Europe Set to Take Longer

Business travel recovery in 2021 proceeded at a slower, more cautionary pace than expected, particularly across Western Europe where business travel underperformed compared to other markets across the world. This is according to European-specific data from the latest business travel index–the BTI™ Outlook, from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s largest business travel…