Alexandria, VA — The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) announced today that the third-party investigation into professional work conduct allegations against Scott Solombrino, GBTA’s CEO, has concluded no misconduct or legal wrongdoing on his part. In a statement, GBTA’s Board of Directors reported that they received an anonymous letter asserting troubling allegations about Mr. Solombrino.  The…

Here’s When Experts Say Oxford University’s Coronavirus Vaccine Could Be Ready A researcher at Oxford University in the U.K. said on Monday that a million doses of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine could be produced by September, but experts say it’s unlikely they will be administered until next year. Dr. Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute…

Best Practices for Critical Workers Traveling to and from “Hot Spot” States In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many U.S. states and localities, such as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Louisiana, have adopted interstate travel restrictions to maintain lower levels of spread and contain the virus. Many of these travel restrictions take the…

56% Travel Buyers Have Revised Their Travel Policy in Light of COVID-19 As recovery continues companies look to safeguard employee health and safety As signs of recovery continue in the business travel sector, travel procurement professionals are prioritizing the health and safety of employees according to a new poll released today by the Global Business…

GBTA Retains MCI USA to Undertake Comprehensive Organizational and Operations Review Top-to-Bottom Audit by Senior Task Team Meant to “Reset” GBTA Post-Pandemic The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has engaged MCI USA, one of the nation’s premier consulting groups serving member-based non-profit organizations, to provide a 360-degree organizational and operations audit designed to reset the Association…

Dave Hilfman Named Interim Executive Director of GBTA Former United Senior VP and Recipient of GBTA’s ICON Award to Lead Association Forward The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has named travel industry leader Dave Hilfman as its interim Executive Director. Hilfman, who retired from United Airlines as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales in 2018, will…

U.S. Coronavirus Cases Spike, with India Close Behind On Sunday, the World Health Organization announced another record number of cases recorded in one day, with more than 230,000 cases reported globally. The United States remains the world’s hotspot, with some states seeing huge spikes in cases. If the state of Florida were a country, the…

Reminder: GBTA Coronavirus Poll – Your Participation Is Essential! We are currently fielding the 9th installment of the GBTA Coronavirus Poll. This poll is critical to the recovery of our industry and its results continue to be used by C-suite executives and boards, the media, congress and government committees. As a member association, we rely…

Update on GBTA Convention 2020 Over the past few months, GBTA staff and leadership have explored every option possible to proceed with the association’s 2020 Convention set for November in Denver, Colorado. That said, with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to spike globally and the Denver Convention Center dedicated to a temporary medical facility, the convention center cannot be…

These States Still Require Travelers to Self-Quarantine or Present Negative COVID-19 Test States are opening back up, but that doesn’t mean travelers are free to come and go as they please amid the coronavirus pandemic. USA TODAY has an update on the states that are discouraging interstate travel by requiring or recommending that visitors and…

GBTA Coronavirus Poll: Your Participation Is Essential! We are currently fielding the 9th installment of the GBTA Coronavirus Poll. This poll is critical to the recovery of our industry and its results continue to be used by C-suite executives and boards, the media, congress and government committees. As a member association, we rely on your input…

Coronavirus Updates: Seven-Day Average Case Total in the U.S. Sets Record for 27th Straight Day Officials in states with surging coronavirus cases issued dire warnings and blamed outbreaks on early reopenings Sunday as the seven-day average for daily new cases in the United States reached a record high for the 27th straight day. “We don’t…

UK to Lift Ban on Non-Essential Travel to up to 90 Countries Overseas holidays and visits to up to 90 countries will be possible for Britons from Monday without the need to quarantine for 14 days on return. The Foreign Office is expected to lift its ban on non-essential travel to nearly all EU countries,…

Fauci Warns U.S. Could See 100,000 New Coronavirus Cases per Day Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation’s top infectious diseases experts, told a Senate panel Tuesday that he “would not be surprised” to see the number of daily new coronavirus cases balloon to 100,000 per day if the country does not take action to…

Travel Managers Are Working Out How Companies Can Return to Travel — Is It Worth It? Corporate travel managers are looking for a magic formula to allow employees to take business trips again. Many are working on what’s commonly being referred to as a “Return to Travel” document, which sets out approval procedures and other…

Homeland Security to Reopen Travelers’ Global Entry Enrollment Centers July 6, with COVID-19 Changes The Global Entry program, which has been shut down since March 19 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, will open enrollment centers again starting July 6, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency under Homeland Security announced Friday. Continue Reading >>   COVID-19 Update Coronavirus Updates:…

The Travel Industry Will Survive COVID-19, But with Big Changes For Fast Company’s Shape of Tomorrow series, we’re asking business leaders to share their inside perspective on how the COVID-19 era is transforming their industries. Here’s what’s been lost—and what could be gained—in the new world order. Continue Reading >>   COVID-19 Update Coronavirus Updates: Texas Pauses Reopening…

European Aviation Unites in Call for Support for Green Recovery from COVID-19 With the gradual restarting of passenger air transport in the coming weeks, leaders from over a dozen air transport associations1 representing Europe’s aviation sector today issued an urgent call for EU leaders to prioritise specific decarbonisation initiatives in their allocation of future COVID-19…

Coronavirus: EU Considers Barring Americans from Travel List A number of European countries are keen to open up to tourists but others are wary of the continued spread of coronavirus. The 27-member bloc must first agree the measures that non-EU countries should meet before deciding on a safe list. The virus is spreading in the…

Do U.S. Airlines Have a Legal Right to Bar Passengers Who Don’t Wear Masks? Thus far, the U.S. federal government has shown no interest in requiring airline passengers to wear masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19. So many carriers, including American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, are doing it for them, going so…

Study: Business Travel to Resume Within Next Three Months Nearly half (49 per cent) of all polled Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) member companies plan to resume domestic travel within the next three months, while one in five plan to resume all travel in the same period. –Features GBTA Continue Reading >> COVID-19 Update  Egypt, Slovenia, Ukraine, and Other…

Fauci Says More Widespread Lockdowns Probably Won’t Be Needed in Virus Fight The United States doesn’t need more widespread lockdowns to bring its COVID-19 outbreak under control, despite the fact that the national daily infection rate has stayed flat, leading government expert Anthony Fauci said Thursday. Speaking to AFP, the physician-scientist added he was optimistic…