At 4:42pm On Friday, 27 January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States”, temporarily barring people from seven, named countries from entering the country.

 
What does the travel ban mean?
The order suspends the US Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days; and denies entry to anyone from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, regardless of visa status, for 90 days. This ban extends to people with dual nationality including any of the countries named.
The executive orders took immediate effect although their impact has been curtailed in part by New York and Boston Federal court rulings.

What has the immediate impact been?
• Passengers have been denied boarding on flights to the US; and several people already on planes flying to the US at the time of the order being signed have been detained on arrival.
• Google is reported to have called its travelling employees back, in case the order prevents their return.
• A number of protests have taken place at airports in the US, including in New York (JFK), Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oregon, Boston, Dallas and Minnesota.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are among airlines to offer impacted passengers the chance to re-book flights or to request refunds.

 
What should I do?
If you are travelling to the United States or transiting through the country, we have set out the following advice.
• If you have flights book to the United States or transiting the United States, and have any doubts as to whether you will be denied entry, check with your airline.
• If you decide to cancel or postpone travel, contact GTM for advice on how to proceed.
• If you are already in the United States and plan to leave the country – for any reason – check with your airline to determine whether you will be granted re-entry in to the United States.
• If you are in doubt as to your current visa status and restrictions, contact GTM and take advantage of the GTM Visa Service.
As usual, our travel consultants can provide advice on any flight bookings and provide the latest information on visa requirements and restrictions.
Source of airport protests: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-29/protesters-descend-on-us-aiports-to-protest-immigration-policies/8221070

The trade union Unite has announced that it intends to hold a further set of industrial action involving one of our five cabin crew fleets on Thursday 19, Friday 20 and Saturday 21 January 2017

British Airways contingency plans, which were successful during the previous two days of industrial action, will once again ensure that all of our customers will travel to their destinations.

They will publish their plans on Monday 16 January to customers, who have bookings on the days of threatened industrial action

No significant disruption reported as British Airways cabin crew begin 48-hour strike

British Airways cabin crew have begun their 48-hour strike in a row over pay.

A total of 22 flights out of 800 at Heathrow have been cancelled due to the disruption.

Affected destinations include Hamburg, Dusseldorf, San Jose, Oslo and Aberdeen.

A small number of Heathrow flights will be ‘merged’, but BA said all flights to and from Gatwick and London City airports will operate as normal.

In this article we have taken a look back at some industry awards we have been involved in.

Our HQ is in Surrey and has been since we launched the business, so we are always pleased to be recognised in the Toast of Surrey Awards, which, organised by the Surrey Advertiser, celebrated its eighth year in 2016.

We were nominated in three categories in 2016: International Trade, sponsored by Surrey Chambers of Commerce, the Director of the Year, sponsored by the Institute of Directors) and the award for the best Companies with a Turnover of More Than £5million, sponsored by Surrey County Council. In fact, we are very proud to say we were the only business to have achieved a nomination in all three of those categories.

Our fellow nominees for the International Trade Award were Perfect Pitch, Conjoint and the winners, Vocality International.   We were also in great company in the category of Director of the Year. Our own Scott Pawley was nominated along with James Gubbins of Pelling Marketing by Design and the winner, Creative Nature’s Julianne Ponan.

For us, however, the main category in the Toast of Surrey Awards is the one reserved for the larger businesses in Surrey. Each year an award is presented to the best company with a turnover of more than £5million. In 2016, we were nominated alongside Johnston Sweepers and Wick Hill, for whom GTM handles business travel. We were very grateful to be nominated and it was an even bigger privilege when it was announced that GTM was the winner.

We have also been recognised – again – by the travel industry body Advantage.

In 2016 Advantage presented 17 awards to members and business partners. We have had a great deal of success in the Advantage awards: in 2015 we were named Corporate Member of the Year in the Advantage Travel Partnership and GTM’s Kelly Packington was named Focus Champion of the Year in the Advantage Focus Partnership.

But in 2016 we were nominated in the most important category for a travel management company, Business Travel Agent of the Year. We were honoured by being awarded the title. And, having won the award the previous year, we became the only company ever to win it one year and retain it the next.