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Week in Review

The New York Times ran a special section this week dedicated to business travel. GBTA’s Mike McCormick was interviewed for input on multiple articles including business travel trends in today’s world of traveler centricity and continuing high airfares despite falling oil prices. The special section also hit on business travel to Cuba, mass transit, U.S….

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Convenience Trumps Cost for Business Travelers

New research released today by the GBTA Foundation and American Express looks into how U.S. business travelers feel about their travel experience and how those feelings affect their actual behaviors related to travel. The GBTA Business Traveler Sentiment Index™, in partnership with American Express, is a proprietary data-centered barometer based on business traveler’s attitudes toward…

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Travel Risk Management Protocols on the Rise

A recent GBTA Foundation study released earlier this week showed an overwhelming majority (83 percent) of organizations that have travel risk management programs, have risk management protocols in place as part of their travel programs to ensure the safety and well-being of their business travelers. GBTA only expects this number to go up. Of those…

Change It Up

Change It Up

*This post originally appeared as a ‘letter from Mike’ in Global Business Travel magazine volume three, issue two.* We tend to think of disruptions negatively, as undesired events or activities. For business travelers, disruptions too often involve a loss of time and money. Thunderstorms can shut down airports and create cascading flight delays and cancellations….

Planes, Trains and Automobiles with Congresswoman Frankel

Planes, Trains and Automobiles with Congresswoman Frankel

Congresswoman Lois Frankel welcomed GBTA’s Legislative Symposium attendees to Washington, D.C. saying, “there is nothing more important that having citizen lobbyists.” She said there are so many issues that come in front of Congress that they depend on folks like those in the room who have practical experience to share their ideas on what works…

Improving Amtrak

Improving Amtrak

“We want Amtrak to work. We want Amtrak to be profitable,” Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) told attendees at GBTA Legislative Symposium 2015. During the event, Denham discussed his commitment to Amtrak and the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act, which recently passed the House of Representatives. Denham also detailed a few of his priorities, including…

Bill Introduced to End Managed Inclusion for PreCheck

Bill Introduced to End Managed Inclusion for PreCheck

Today, Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), John Katko (R-NY) and Kathleen Rice (D-NY) introduced a bill that would end managed inclusion for PreCheck, a practice where Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents allow travelers to use PreCheck lanes when they have not been properly vetted. GBTA, while a strong supporter of programs like TSA PreCheck, has been…

Rep. Katko To Introduce Legislation Ending Managed Inclusion in PreCheck

Rep. Katko To Introduce Legislation Ending Managed Inclusion in PreCheck

Rep. John Katko (R-NY) today told attendees at GBTA Legislative Symposium 2015 that he plans on introducing bipartisan legislation that would put an end to managed inclusion in PreCheck – the practice of enabling travelers who have not been screened for PreCheck to go through the PreCheck lane. “Managed inclusion defies the logic of what…

Office Seeks to Make Travel & Tourism Easier

Office Seeks to Make Travel & Tourism Easier

Isabel Hill, director of the National Travel and Tourism Office at the U.S. Department of Commerce, today detailed how her office is seeking to make travel to the United States easier through a range of programs, from helping people get visas faster to improving the customer experience in airports. In an age where everything is…

Senator Klobuchar Talks Travel & Tourism Issues at GBTA Legislative Symposium

Senator Klobuchar Talks Travel & Tourism Issues at GBTA Legislative Symposium

Senator Amy Klobuchar, a major champion of business travel and someone The Washington Post called a rising star of the Democratic Party spoke to GBTA members as part of today’s Legislative Symposium. Sen. Klobuchar led off joking about the weather in Minnesota as she lauded the business community for being able to draw the NFL…

Legislative Symposium: Keeping the Momentum Going at Home

Legislative Symposium: Keeping the Momentum Going at Home

What is the number one way to influence a member of Congress? Citizens have more power than they realize – personal communications from constituents make all the difference. 46 percent of Congressional staff report that in-person visits from constituents had “a lot of positive influence” on Members/Senators, compared to 8 percent who had the same…