BTA NEWS
The Voice of Business Travel
Hi everyone, Welcome to the latest BTA Newsletter and it’s been a tad busy since the last edition for most of us in the industry. Whilst we are a long way from any meaningful recovery there are positive signs and we must grab those and move forward with them one step at a time. I write this on the way to the Business Travel Show at ExCel and that statement in itself is hugely positive, the industry is getting back in the room and doing business with each other! I look forward to meeting industry friends, many who I would have last seen at this very event back in February 2020, just before the pandemic really hit. We have also had the BTA conference in Liverpool since our last edition and I hope that all of you who were able to join us enjoyed the content, the social events and most of all being back amongst your tribe. We hope to run more in person events in Q4 of this year and into 2022. Please keep an eye for our topical and relevant events plan and get yourself involved. It certainly looks like we have seen the start of the recovery and I ask that everyone one of you do your bit in talking as positively as you can about international travel, that you keep working in collaboration and most of all that you keep believing. Thank you for your outstanding support and here is to a refreshingly better end of 2021. Take care Clive
A few minutes with Ivana Macura (BTA Partnership & Marketing Manager) Tell us more about your role at the BTA I look after our Industry Partners, Industry Partner Board and all the aspects of our Marketing and working together with my team planning events and meetings. I really enjoy my role as it has a lot of variety, no day is the same. Away from the BTA what hobbies do you have? I am very active, I enjoy sports including tennis, water-skiing, skiing, snowboarding, and sailing. As you can imagine during the lockdown it has been physically and mentally very difficult for me to sit still in one place. I also enjoy doing landscape and architecture photography, cooking different types of cuisine and finally and would say the most important one travelling. This hobby is part of my DNA. I have explored many countries across Europe, Southern Africa, USA, the Middle East, Asia, Indonesia and North & Central America. And still many more to visit! What is your most memorable travel memory? So far my favourite trips include a road trip in South Africa and Malaysia. These destinations are very different to each other but very similar in terms of beautiful nature, landscapes, great cuisine, very welcoming and sociable local people and stunning weather. I would definitely like to go back again one day. What advice would you give to your younger self? Not to be scared to ask questions and to have more confidence in myself. When I started working twenty-one years ago I was terrified of presenting in front of a large audience. With time I have learnt that no one bites 😊 What is your favourite cuisine? I love all kinds of food, but if I had to choose only one, definitely Italian. What chore do you hate doing? Definitely ironing, who likes that? 😊
An update from Mervyn Williamson - Director & Treasurer at The BTA Old boys club”… I don’t think so, how about the most progressive Association in the travel sector!! When the GTMC re-branded to the Business Travel Association (“BTA”) in the summer of 2019 this was not just a name change but a total re-think of how and what the BTA stands for. Being the representative body for the UK business travel industry we attract influential travel industry members and partners representing airlines, airports, accommodation companies, rail, car rental, technology, payment and ancillary product providers. This collective group of people have two main things in common with each other being “passion” and “knowledge” of this sector. In addition, the external experts we contract with, such as Pembroke & Rye and Cavendish Communications have helped us raise the profile of the vital role business travel plays in the broader economy. This includes facilitating leading industry events, commissioning surveys and research and lobbying organisations that can impact and influence our industry; including suppliers, UK Government and EU legislators. It is then the responsibility of our secretariat, under the leadership of our CEO Clive Wratten and his team to deliver tangible value to all parties at all times, supported by our 14 person board of industry leaders. As part of our internal governance, regular skills audits are undertaken on the board members to ensure we have leaders with varying skills and expertise, facilitating lively and constructive debate. The BTA’s enhanced national exposure during the pandemic has really helped highlight the importance of the business travel sector to Government officials and even when business starts to recover, our positioning and importance must not waiver. As with many other Associations the challenge we now face internally, is balancing the books. The impact of covid-19 has seen our income levels fall by some 33%, yet with some careful cost management and having the benefit of past cash reserves, we are still able to meet our objectives and drive the Association forward to the benefit of all. Holding our annual conference last month “Live” in Liverpool, and the up-take we had re: the number of delegates that attended, highlighted just how excited people are about getting travel back on the agenda. 18 months ago, no one would ever have predicated how damaging the pandemic would have been to so many, yet we now have the opportunity to help re-model and refocus on what “new travel” looks like. Enhanced collaboration with our partners and communication with our members will without doubt keep the BTA at the forefront of all business travel matters. Having served as BTA Director for over 11 years, I for one, am looking forward to this challenge, helping to drive the sector, we all love, back to where it belongs! Mervyn
An update from David Button of Cavendish After several weeks away on Summer Recess, Parliament returned on the 6th September with all eyes currently remaining on the situation in Afghanistan. Expect this to continue to dominate the political headlines throughout September as the fall-out from the crisis continues, which is unfortunately less good news for the UK/US relationship. The Government will be keen however to shift the focus back to the domestic agenda as soon as possible, particularly before party conference season in late-September and October. At its conference in Manchester, we can expect to see the Government draw attention towards its ‘building back better’ mantra as well as environmental policy ahead of COP26 and returning to the levelling up agenda that dominated the 2019 General Election. The BTA has been meeting regularly with DfT to highlight the sector’s concerns about the return to international travel, and will continue to feed into the review ahead of its announcement. We know that there are a number of key milestones for the sector coming up, including the traffic lights review and the end of the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which ended on 30th September. Following on from our September meeting, there is another All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Business Travel in the diary for November, where we will be continuing to push for support for the business travel sector. We will also be meeting with DfT following the traffic light review this month to provide the sector’s feedback on the review and the needs of the sector going forward. David Button Senior Account Director
Time for Change - RFP Process - September 2021
We have launched industry guidance to help support the travel industry in getting the best from their Travel Management Company (TMC) request for proposal (RFP) process. The new white paper provides coherent, accessible support for TMCs, customers, buyers and suppliers in exploring the components of the RFP process. It offers step-by-step guidance illustrating what is involved in running a successful TMC RFP, and how to achieve it. The Association’s TMC RFP guidance will equip the sector with key considerations and best practise to drive TMCs forward as they look towards a post-Covid world. The BTA’s latest white paper follows the development of industry guidance on TMC pricing models and accelerated TMC fee models, which launched earlier this year. The white paper’s consultations and development were established by the BTA in partnership with leading industry consultant, Nina & Pinta. The white paper can be viewed or downloaded here
What has the BTA been up to? New Events Calendar The BTA are keen to continue dialogue and interaction during these unprecedented times. We have put together a calendar of ‘events’ which will take place over the next few months that we hope will encourage engagement, education, camaraderie and in some cases a welcome distraction from the day-to-day rituals that many people are currently going through.
Click here to view the calendar
BTA Conference - Liverpool 19th to 21st September 2021 The BTA was delighted to hold our annual conference in Liverpool from 19th to 21st September.
Over 120 delegates joined industry colleagues at two brand new venues, the INNSIDE by Melia Liverpool and The Spine for three days of great content and networking. We wanted to give you time to reflect, to look forward, to listen to views from inside and outside of industry, to learn, to question, to chat, to network, to relax, to laugh and most of all to leave feeling energised and immensely proud of this industry and yourselves.
Click here to view the video and the photos from the conference
Please use password Liverpool all in lower case to access all the photos.
BTA Awards Recognition
We are thrilled to announce that our CEO Clive Wratten was recognised at both the Business Travel Awards and The Business Travel People Awards where he collected the Outstanding Contribution and Industry Contribution Awards. The BTA Team also received a highly commended for their response to the Covid pandemic at the Business Travel Awards.
BTA Stand at the Business Travel Show
The BTA had a great time at this Business Travel Show at ExCeL London. We would like to thank all our friends, partners and colleagues in the industry for
re-connecting face-to-face after such a difficult time for our sector, and we look stopping to chat with us about our exciting new projects. We have loved forward to many more industry events.
Social Media
Please remember to follow, like, comment and share the BTA’s social activity. Here’s a reminder of our main social media accounts: Twitter – @TheBTAorg LinkedIn – The BTA Twitter - @clivewratten LinkedIn – Clive Wratten
To contact the BTA please email us at info@thebta.org.uk