BUSINESS NEWS discuss quarantine, testing, FCO advice and government support. Ian Taylor reports


Travel leaders recognise testing has limitations


The industry needs to be realistic about the limits to Covid testing of travellers, say sector leaders as the government considers introducing a system of tests on arrivals. UKinbound chief executive Joss


Croft noted: “One test is not going to be sufficient because you could have caught Covid at the time of testing and it would only show up later. “Two tests would help in reducing


the time people need to self-isolate, but it’s not going to be hugely helpful given 10-day self-isolation is almost as bad as 14 days.” Croft added: “I’ve heard talk


of technologies that would allow tracking and monitoring of people tested multiple times with a digital- health passport. But there have been


Two tests ‘would be barrier to business travel’


challenges in tracking in the UK, so that is probably a long way off.” Business Travel Association chief


executive Clive Wratten said: “A two-test regime is an absolute barrier for corporate travel. What we need is reciprocal testing [between countries].” Abta director of industry relations


Susan Deer said: “We have to be pragmatic about how test and trace has been working [in the UK] and [the prospects of] expanding that commercially to allow people to travel.”


Wratten calls on FCO to introduce a ‘travel with caution’ advice tier


The Business Travel Association wants the Foreign Office to adopt a new tier of advice to ‘travel with caution’. But Abta has suggested such a change is unlikely and should not be a priority. BTA chief executive Clive


Wratten said: “Foreign Office travel advice hasn’t changed for years and the world has changed. The stop-go scenario doesn’t work. So let’s introduce a third level [of advice] to ‘travel with caution’ to allow us to get back to travelling.” Wratten suggested it would allow


travel management companies and agencies to advise travellers. He said: “A country would


be ‘under caution’, but we would be watching, know when announcements are going to come


out [and] work with customers to make them feel safe and know they would be able to get back should quarantine come in.” However, Abta director of


industry relations Susan Deer said: “The Foreign Office reviewed the levels of advice [pre-Covid], looked at the options and concluded the current system works well. “Our first target has to be to


get away from this global advisory against travel and back to individual country advice. Then the important thing is to give travellers the informa- tion so they can make an informed decision on whether to travel.” She noted: “The FCO doesn’t


say it’s safe to travel to a destination even if it’s ‘green’. It says ‘We’re not advising against non-essential travel’.”


‘Industry needs a grant system’


Government support will be vital if businesses are to survive the winter, say industry leaders. Business Travel Association (BTA)


chief executive Clive Wratten said: “We understand furlough in its current form can’t continue. You can’t keep handing out taxpayers’ cash. But we need something to get us through to at least the end of the year and probably to Q1 next. For BTA members, the biggest costs are property and staff.” The BTA has proposed a payroll


support scheme in a letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak. Wratten said: “We’ve come


up with a solution that says ‘Keep helping us because we need skilled staff to build the economy’s recovery and when our members start turning a profit they will pay it back at 10% of their profits each quarter.”


travelweekly.co.uk We’re looking to


the government for a mechanism that would allow businesses to retain staff


UKinbound chief executive


Joss Croft said: “My members are hugely thankful for the Job Retention Scheme, but its phasing out is a real worry. The government is not minded to continue it past October or to make an exception for specific industries. “We need something that


supports the employed in an industry that has no opportunities elsewhere. We’re not like supermarkets that have taken millions of pounds through the


furlough scheme yet continued to operate and can shift business online. “We need greater understanding


that travel is the third-largest service export and we need support to keep what would be normally good businesses going. I don’t think anyone cares what it’s called if it allows businesses to survive and continue to employ staff.” Croft argued: “Things like the


Eat Out to Help Out campaign and the VAT cut have been good, but they’re short-term. We’re looking for direct intervention from government, for a mechanism that would allow businesses to retain staff.” He added: “We’re looking for


a grant system. The problem with loans is people have to pay them back and, at the moment, there is no date by which people could say


27 AUGUST 2020 Clive Wratten 39


‘We’ll be able to pay that back’. “Politicians see the beaches of


Brighton and Bournemouth busy, and the Eat Out scheme, and think everything is OK. It’s not.”


PICTURE: Shutterstock


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