Companies expect ongoing International travel disruption resulting from revised travel ban, European companies will plan significantly less meetings & events in United States.
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) polled its U.S. and European members this week to assess the business travel impact of President Trump’s revised executive order on travel.
Nearly 4 in 10 (37 percent) U.S. business travel professionals expect some level of reduction in their company’s travel because of the revised executive order. Even more European travel professionals felt this way with 47 percent expecting some level of reduction in business travel for their company.
Additionally, 17 percent of European travel professionals reported that their company has already cancelled business travel to the United States because of the executive orders issued.
Thirty-eight percent of European business travel professionals said their company’s would be less willing to send business travelers to the United States in the future because of the executive order and 45 percent indicated their company will be less willing to plan future meetings and events in the United States.
“There is always the risk that closing our borders sends the message that the United States is closed for business, and the results of this poll show the perception of the United States as a welcoming destination for business travel has been altered,” said Michael W. McCormick.
“As we always say, security is paramount, but GBTA continues to be a proponent for expanding proven security programs and developing new technology to facilitate information-sharing among governments to ensure travelers are always vetted properly, making us all more safe and secure.”
Additional Findings from the Polls
- 44 percent of European travel professionals reported their organization currently has employees traveling abroad who might be or are affected by the current travel ban.
- 20 percent of European travel professionals reported there are directives within their organization to cancel or delay travel of employees who are nationals of countries included in the ban.
- U.S. travel professionals cited potential for countries to respond to this ban, making travel more difficult for U.S. travelers (51 percent), complications in travel to the United States (44 percent) and increased threats against U.S. travelers abroad (41 percent) as their top concerns for lasting impacts of the travel ban. These numbers were all marginally down from our poll following the announcement of the first travel ban in January where they were at 63 percent, 56 percent and 54 percent respectively.
- U.S. travel professionals expressed similar levels of support and opposition for the revised travel ban as they did for the original one. Just over half (52 percent) of the travel professionals surveyed strongly or somewhat oppose this action, while 35 percent strongly or somewhat support it, compared to 50 percent and 38 percent, respectively, in our initial poll.
- When asked about top concerns regarding the immigration ban on your travelers, increased traveler harassment in general (41 percent), uncertainty regarding green card and approved visa credibility to enter the United States (34 percent), and harassment of U.S. travelers to and from the Middle East (34 percent) topped the list. More than one-third (34 percent), however, didn’t share any of the concerns listed.
Methodology
The poll of European members was conducted online between March 7-8, 2017. The respondents are comprised of 148 European travel managers, 51 of whom reside in Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, or Sweden). The poll of U.S. members was also conducted online between March 7-8, 2017 and is comprised of 176 travel managers.
President Trump’s travel bans are making waves, both domestically and abroad. The new order imposes a 90-day entry ban to the US for nationals of Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen and it goes into effect March 16.
It’s also stirring a great deal of uncertainty in the travel industry about what a Trump presidency means for travel from a symbolic, cultural and economic perspective.
How are the biggest players in travel responding to the ban? Is it affecting tourism numbers from the US? The articles and analyses below provide a jumping off point for you to discover what the travel ban means for your hotel.
In a move that many speculate is a response to Trump’s protectionism, the EU is threatening to remove visa-free travel for Americans within Europe. This is ostensibly due to America failing to agree visa-free travel for citizens of five EU countries " Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania " as part of a reciprocity agreement.
However, the fact that the vote happened now, rather than 3 years ago (when the European Commission discovered the United States wasn’t meeting its obligation), is telling.
It’s not all dark and stormy, though! Hotel construction is booming across Europe. 69,000 hotel rooms are under construction, and 40,000 were built last year. Whether those rooms will be filled, however, remains to be seen.
Taylor Smariga is a Conversion Data Analyst & Distributor at Net Affinity. She graduated from Trinity College Dublin in May 2015, and studied Political Science, Philosophy, Economics and Sociology, all of which gave her a broad view of the social sciences and the way different disciplines approach a problem. She is passionate about writing, data, digital marketing, graphic design and dance, and does her best to apply the first four to her work at Net Affinity.
www.netaffinity.com
