Check in with Suzanne

Hey, everyone –

Just a quick note this week to highlight more positive interactions on our road to recovery as an association.

Last Friday I met – in real life! – with our partners from the German business travel association, VDR – Hans-Ingo Biehl, executive director, and Christoph Carnier, board president. GBTA have had a long, successful partnership with VDR on German and pan-European programs and advocacy. We look forward to extending that partnership for the benefit of local, regional and international members into the future. And more immediately, we are working together on the 4^th quarter plans for the GBTA Europe conference – stay tuned for some important announcements very soon.

With the news last week that CWT is rejoining GBTA, we have further signs that, with our members’, sponsors’ and board’s backing, we are on the right track: https://www.gbta.org/blog/cwt-re-joins-the-global-business-travel-association-gbta/)

GBTA continues the hard work of re-opening international travel. I will be meeting with the office of the EU ambassador to the U.S. next week to discuss the impact the international travel closure is having on the industry. We also need your help, for the U.S. members, if you havent already, use GBTA’s Grassroots Action Center and send a message to your member of Congress telling them we need an action plan for ending the U.S. ban on international travel. https://p2a.co/NdRclPD

And a shout out to the many returning individual members who have rejoined recently. I love the notes I’m getting from you on what is motivating you, also happy to help with any “rejoining pains” you’re experiencing technically… so drop me a line anytime about what you’re looking for from GBTA in the future… 2021@gbta.org

 

News to Know

EU Digital COVID Certificate Now Live: All member states should now be able to issue and accept the pass but the government has given countries not yet ready – including Ireland, which has been delayed by cyber attacks – until August 12 to connect to the system’s network and be technically ready. It’s anticipated that this could serve as a model of cooperation at the global level.

Canadian Travel & Tourism Roundtable Continues Pressure to Re-Open: The Roundtable, of which GBTA is a member, is holding regular press conferences in hopes of persuading the Canadian government to ease restrictions. At last week’s press conference, Vito Curalli, executive director of Hilton Worldwide and GBTA Canada Advisory Board member, said “Canada cannot afford to be left behind as other countries around the world begin to reopen.” According to a recent study from Mastercard, one-fifth of countries studied have returned to at least 90% of pre-pandemic levels for domestic flight bookings, while other countries, including Canada, lag.

Argentina Announces Drastic Restrictions on International Flights: Argentina had already placed a daily cap of 2,000 passenger arrivals on international flights but the latest decree issued by the government lowers the cap to only 600 passengers allowed to arrive on international flights per day, effective immediately.

 

GBTA News & Reminders

Global Leadership Professional^® (GLP) Program Starts July 21: As I announced a couple months ago, we are very excited to be partnering with University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business on this valuable course – the only one of its kind for travel professionals focused on business and leadership skills. The Finance for Non-Financial Executives course runs virtually July 21-23 and GBTA scholarships are available. Click here to register.

New! Travel Risk Management Bootcamp: GBTA has partnered with Global Secure Accreditation to offer this new training course to help travel and procurement professionals explore travel risk management in the context of the upcoming ISO 31030 guidelines. For more information and bootcamp dates, click here.

You’ll keep hearing this from me until July 19 (when voting closes)… please remember to make your votes for the GBTA Board of Directors election. Voting is one of the most important parts of being a member of our Association.

 

Suzanne