Dave Hilfman’s Monday Morning Memo to GBTA Members (9/21/20)

Last week passed the two month mark since I joined GBTA as interim Executive Director. I’ve been on a “listening tour” of our global membership the past sixty days and am grateful for your advice, constructive feedback, candid insights, keen observations and encouragement! Thank you as well for your support and patience as we work to earn back your trust and confidence during these extraordinary times.

 

Our team continues to forge ahead in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, doing everything in our power to provide value to members, advocate for the reopening of global business travel and reset the Association to better serve you and our industry.

 

We’re committed to directly communicating with our members more frequently as we want to inform you about everything we’re doing at GBTA and how these efforts positively impact business travel. You’ll be hearing from me on a weekly basis in the Monday Morning Memo, meant to serve as a quick overview of all things GBTA.

 

What’s the latest?

 

Collaboratory 2020 Continues: Our business travel webinar series has been well-received thus far, with over a thousand attendees getting the inside scoop on topics ranging from the economics of recovery to procurement during a pandemic to the latest in virtual payment solutions. This week, our focus turns to travel globally, with a pulse check on business travel in Europe, Canada, Australia, LATAM, and Africa. You can still register to hear from regional experts who will offer critical updates for planning travel to these regions in the near future and post-pandemic.

 

GBTA Joins Industry Leaders In Advocating For Action to Reopen Business Travel: The reopening of business travel globally remains our top priority at GBTA. On September 10, we joined 17 other travel and aviation industry leadership groups in urging the Administration to take coordinated, deliberate action to safely reopen international travel markets.  This letter follows GBTA Europe calling on the European Commission in July to widening testing capabilities and requirements across the EU as a better alternative to blanket travel restrictions.

 

The U.S. letter, addressed to a trio of high-ranking Secretaries who hold sway over the travel, urged these Washington leaders to adopt a collaborative approach between government and industry targeted at reopening business travel as quickly and safely as possible. The industry recommendations include establishing COVID-19 testing protocols to increase confidence in travel safety and reopen global travel; commencing pilot testing programs to establish universal testing standards across nations; and funding and making available pilot testing programs designed to deliver rapid, accurate testing results for travelers.

 

GBTA Europe Town Hall: On Tuesday, September 22 from 9 am EST to 10 am EST, you can join Catherine Logan, GBTA’s Regional Vice President, and Mark Cuschieri, GBTA Europe Advisory Board Chair, for a free-to-members Town Hall webcast.

 

This hour-long event will include an Association update and a briefing from Grayling, our European advocacy team, on Brussels’ latest responses to the pandemic and Brexit. Also scheduled: a discussion on how to help travelers feel comfortable again, with insight from Liam Moroney, Rocketrip’s Vice President of Marketing.

 

Please register for the event today.

 

GBTA Canada Town Hall: On Wednesday, September 23 from 2 pm EST to 3 pm EST, please feel free to join our biweekly Canada Business Travel Industry Town Hall. These hour-long events – sponsored by Rocketrip – share information, tools and resources in support of Canadian business travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re free to GBTA members. You can register here.

 

Thanks for taking time out of your day to read this update and don’t hesitate to let me know how we’re doing. Have a great week.

 

Dave