The business travel industry will play a vital role in the UK’s economic recovery.” That was the rousing sentiment of Business Travel Association (BTA) chief executive Clive Wratten, speaking to TTG last week.

“Business travellers are the people who forge the deals and build the relationships which make global trade possible,” he said.

Business travel – which generates £10 billion in revenue every year and currently employs more than 12,000 people in the UK – was the first tranche of the travel industry to feel the effects of the coronavirus crisis, as risk-averse corporate clients quickly moved to cancel staff travel.

As Kieran Hartwell, Travel Counsellors’ managing director of corporate travel, summed up: “While corporate travel was at the sharp end of this crisis, it will be at the sharp end of the rebuild.”

But Wratten cast no doubt there remains a large storm to be weathered – one which no one can forecast the end of.

Government clarity

Over the past two weeks, the government has unveiled a number of measures to aid struggling businesses.

However, the BTA is pushing for further clarity on certain points, including whether TMCs qualify for the business rates holiday announced for leisure, hospitality and retail firms, something that will be arranged by local authorities.

“We are doing everything we can to seek that clarity, and make sure members are treated as retail,” Wratten said.

He added that generally BTA members were relieved to have gained access to cash and the option to furlough staff (for whom the government will pay 80% of wages), but that “the devil would be in the detail”.

As TTG went to press, the BTA was among those leading a call for airlines to offer cash refunds rather than credit notes during the pandemic, in accordance with Iata regulations.

“It feels a bit like the Wild West in travel at the moment,” Hartwell added.

Diversified models

The business travel sector has enjoyed some reprieve from the fact TMCs tend to book more domestic hotel stays than their leisure counterparts.

While TMC Click Travel – multi-time TTG Top 50 Top Business Travel Agency – has furloughed some staff (with full pay), about a fifth of its clients are public sector, including NHS staff, with some supermarkets on the books too.

“We are continuing to book to an extent,” said Jill Palmer, chief executive. “It’s always been our strategy to have a diverse client base.”

Palmer said she had been able to repurpose entire teams, too.

“My marketing team is booking hotels,” she said. “We have been able to be very nimble, and we’re all now interacting on Zoom [the video conference call website]. We were able to set up the whole team to work from home overnight.”

It’s not just SMEs like Click who have been able to flex in the face of the current crisis.

Chief executive of TAG – which has 11 global offices – Steve Barrass said in a statement that it was “changing our business alongside this to continue bringing clients the service they expect, across all divisions and regions”.

The need for TMCs

While it is commonplace following a crisis for agents to extol the virtues of booking with an expert, the sentiment does seem particularly pertinent amid this unprecedented global crisis.

“What we are seeing are partnerships and local communities getting stronger”

Wratten described it as “critical” the BTA and its members “shout about” the value of booking with a business travel agent, with Palmer adding: “It’s hard to imagine an organisation having to do what we’ve been doing for their clients these past few weeks – they can just refer it all to us and we sort it out, and can use our knowledge and contacts to get better outcomes, too.”

Hartwell highlighted the significance of an article published by US business magazine Forbes last week, reporting that amid the coronavirus crisis OTAs were advising clients not to call, while those who booked with traditional travel agents were “not only getting advice, but getting rescued”.

Collaboration is key

It is, of course, difficult to predict just how long the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts will last and Palmer noted how challenging resourcing will be if travel advice relaxes and then tightens again over a prolonged period.

But there is a sense of optimism that processes will be improved during this down period, and greater collaboration among the industry will blossom.

As Wratten noted: “What we are seeing are partnerships and communities getting stronger.

“The business travel industry will play a vital role in the UK’s economic recovery but, for that to happen, we need to work together now to reduce the impact of Covid-19 for British businesses and put them in a stronger position to resume business travel as soon as this crisis situation ends.

“Now more than ever, traditional rivalries are not the priority – the industry is. And the hope is it will emerge in a stronger position because of that.”