BUSINESS NEWS as one’ to facilitate recovery of corporate travel. Ian Taylor reports from Liverpool


‘International trade deals won’t transform economy’


International trade deals won’t transform the UK economy and the government won’t deviate much from EU and US regulation in spite of Brexit. That is according to David


Henig, UK Trade Policy Project director at the European Centre for International Political Economy. Henig told the Business Travel


Association Conference: “A large part of trade deals is showboating. Most trade deals are not going to transform things.” Yet he insisted the government


idea of ‘global Britain’ “is a reality as well as a slogan”. Addressing the BTA as Boris


Johnson prepared to meet US president Joe Biden to discuss a US-UK trade deal, Henig explained: “The government will do trade deals regardless of whether there is anything useful in them. The most important thing is the dialogue. “A trade deal is a collection of


issues that might be useful to some people. The question is how to make sure a deal includes stuff useful to you.” Henig warned: “We’ll have tricky


‘Corporate travel recovery will lag behind leisure’


Virgin Atlantic expects “a breakthrough” in leisure travel next year, but foresees corporate travel returning more slowly. Juha Järvinen, Virgin Atlantic


chief commercial officer, told the BTA Conference: “It’s great we can


travelweekly.co.uk David Henig


relations with the EU. The checks at borders are not great, but these things can change, a bit like after a divorce. “We’re trading fewer goods with


Europe. It will be very difficult to make up for that. Delays at the border make it harder and will have an effect on the trade figures. The question is, will the government help rather than hinder? There is a danger the government [could] make it worse.” Henig insisted: “Most regulations


are still going to have to be aligned with the EU or US.” He declared himself “not


impressed” with the government, saying: “At times, the government


Juha Järvinen


feels like a secret society that no one knows how to enter. The problem is the prime minister is not interested in detail. Ministers are not rewarded for delivering detail. Their job is to get good headlines.” Of Johnson’s trip to the US, he


said: “We think the US is the answer to all our problems and it’s not. Biden is focused on the US domestic economy and on China.” But Henig insisted: “Britain is the


fifth-largest economy in the world, the eighth-largest exporter of goods, and in services we’re a superpower. Britain is the second-largest exporter of services in the world.”


savings and people can’t wait to spend it. Next year, we’ll have 19% more Upper Class seats to the Caribbean. You might think that is crazy, but it’s not.” Assessing the corporate travel


start flying. We believe 2022 will be a major breakthrough year for travel. “In 2020, roughly 13% of UK GDP went in excess household


outlook, he said: “We believe SMEs will be first to come back. Big corporates will conserve their budgets and intra-corporate travel will be last. “My view is the biggest [shortfall]


will be in short hops – one day out and back. Some of it’s not necessary.


‘Business travellers are more aware of risk management’


The pandemic has brought a new emphasis on risk management, the Business Travel Association Conference heard. American Express Global


Business Travel senior vice- president Jason Geall said: “We’ve found it much easier for people to understand why they should work in a managed travel environment [and] we’re seeing a lot less ‘leakage’. Health and safety is very much front of mind.” Clarity Travel chief executive


Pat McDonagh agreed: “Clients are prepared to discuss risk management now more than ever. At times it was more to tick a box.” Lloyd Figgins, chief executive


of the Travel Risk & Incident Prevention Group, urged the sector “to go beyond the duty of care” saying: “The industry dropped the term 10 years ago. Duty of care is a legal term that imposes civil liabilities. I would talk about responsibility and the welfare of travellers.” Figgins also warned: “Hackers


have been very busy in lockdown honing their skills, and states are hacking on a massive scale.”


Hopefully, people would rather invest in one proper trip and do more meetings. The big question is will conferences come back?” Järvinen hit out at the


government, saying: “The UK government supported the sector the least of European governments. They took the airlines for granted. “We lost at least half a year


and the UK was left behind. The industry was offering solutions to the government, but they decided to ignore [us]. It’s the only word for it.”


30 SEPTEMBER 2021 55


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