make up 25 per cent of the UK’s hospitality, leisure and tourism workforce, and argues that “any immigration system must take account of skills gaps and labour shortages”. Any new curbs that make the country a
less pleasant place in which to do business – for domestic as well as international corporate travellers – will certainly make travel managers’ and buyers’ lives much more difficult.
CBI WARNS ON BUSINESS VISITORS The CBI has come up with other travel- related issues that will need to be resolved – notably, the little matter of mutual recognition of drivers’ licences – and warns: “Any drop in confidence and national GDP, for example, may lead companies to restrict spending on travel and hospitality. This is important as, currently, business visitors make up 25 per cent of all visitors to the UK, with the average business visitor spending 50 per cent more than the average leisure visitor.” Wings Travel Management COO Paul East is beginning to see a change of mood.
“The independent Migration Observatory believes that hospitality is likely to be the sector most seriously disadvantaged”
nations would have serious implications for UK productivity – not least in the hospitality sector. The British Hospitality Association
(BHA) estimates that there are more than 700,000 EU nationals currently working in the industry in the UK. “Without EU workers our industry will be unable to welcome visitors from home and abroad and keep the UK going,” BHA chief executive Ufi Ibrahim warns. Ibrahim has called for a ten-year
“implementation period” – an amnesty in all but name – whereby EU nationals employed in the hospitality sector “continue to be welcomed into the UK”. She has some influential allies. The independent Migration Observatory at Oxford University believes that hospitality is likely to be the sector most seriously disadvantaged by changes to immigration rules arising out of Brexit. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) estimates that migrant workers
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
“Over the past six to nine months, we didn’t really see any uncertainty or changes to travel bookings, but now that the government is triggering Article 50, and there is no definitive direction, clients have said to us that Brexit is starting to come into their thinking – especially clients in the financial sector.” American Express GBT has warned that businesses are “tired of the uncertainty” surrounding Brexit. “There is no way of knowing what will come out of the negotiations,” says vice-president Jason Geall. “The uncertainty is not going away any time soon, which is not good for business.” Geall adds that it is the “duty” of the
travel management community to help businesses “navigate through this period” and ensure “travel policies and programmes are prepared for any changes”. What might those changes be? Wave that QI paddle – ‘nobody knows’...
EU flying regulations: open skies?
It’s a fair bet that few BBT readers will be overly familiar with the terms of Article 15 of the European Union’s Regulation 1008/20086. But a failure by the UK’s Brexit negotiators to agree a deal on this obscure legislation could have far-reaching implications. In a nutshell, Article 15 guarantees
the freedom of Europe’s skies – any airline registered in an EU member state has the right to fly any route within the Union. In theory, if the UK does not reach a new aviation deal before Brexit becomes a reality, the rights enshrined in Article 15 would no longer apply to UK-registered airlines. Again in theory, ex-UK flights to any or all of the 27 remaining EU members could be suspended, with the (admittedly remote) possibility that the government might then have to negotiate old-style bilateral air service agreements with individual nations. That is the spectre summoned up by a briefing document published on March 29 – the day Theresa May’s farewell letter was sent to European Council president Donald Tusk – by specialist aviation lawyers at law firm Watson Farley & Williams (WF&W). As the WF&W briefing explains:
“With no deal, the UK will leave the EU’s single aviation market, traffic rights will be reduced, inhibiting transport between the UK and the EU, and between the UK and certain third countries, including the USA. “Each industry will have its own
reason to seek a special post-Brexit deal. Aviation’s case is founded on its direct contribution to the economy and indirect contribution to so much economic activity in other industries. The UK and EU should therefore agree an ambitious open skies deal, which ideally maintains the status quo. “The UK Government, however, has a lot to negotiate in the next two years and a new open skies treaty with the EU may not have priority. But it should.” BBT readers won’t argue with that.
BBT May/June 2017 113
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136