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Dave

Getting Back to Business Travel

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There’s no doubt that every aspect of the world’s economy was hit hard in 2020. But 2021 will see the fightback against the pandemic, driven by the mass rollout of vaccines. And, as the world begins to move towards a post-pandemic phase, businesses everywhere will start to plan how to face the task ahead: rebuilding the global economy.

Across the United Kingdom, companies are starting to plan how to restart, recover and regain lost ground. In short, we all face the challenge of how to build sustainable growth and, by doing so, pay back the cost of managing the impact of the virus.

Organisations will be deciding when, where and how frequently they need to travel to meet their growth objectives. So we have put together a document that advises on what they should do in order to meet their travel requirements safely, efficiently and at the best cost.

We have covered everything you should consider when you’re making national or international travel. We have included resources you can use to get more information. And we have even included details of how to get hold of hygiene packs of masks, gloves, wipes and sanitiser, with a special 20% discount.

Getting Back to Business Travel is available to download, free of charge, from this page. Please check back here from time to time to make sure you are using the most up-to-date version.

The document is free to download, to share with colleagues and to give to partners and suppliers. You can download it via the link on this page and you are free to distribute it by email, share it as a presentation or print it, as many times as you need. All we would ask is that you check back here from time to time to ensure you are using the most up-to-date version of the document. The current version is July 2020 and you can see this on the first page.

We have split the document into two parts.

  • The first part provides information if you – or your business – intends to book business travel. It covers advice on travel policies, duty of care, pre-trip planning, booking trips and hotels and an itemised list of what your colleagues should take with them.
  • The second part is for those people taking business trips. It gives advice on what you should do before you travel, what to do at the airport or rail station, details of what to do on board, and what to do when you arrive back in the UK. It also provides useful advice on how hotel stays are different now: the checking-in process, advice on hotel housekeeping and room service, express hotel services, luggage, advice on sanitising items in-room and what guests should do if they fall ill.

You may decide to keep the document as a whole, or divide it into parts that are most relevant to colleagues and share it with them.

The document was produced with the help of the Focus Travel Partnership. You can find out more about the Focus Travel Partnership, what it does and how clients of Focus members benefit here.

Please download the document using the download button, below.

Returning to Business TravelDownload
Dave

What does the Focus Travel Partnership do?

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The Focus Travel Partnership is a consortium of independent travel management companies, including Global Travel Management.

Focus was founded in 1999 by fifteen companies solely to serve the growing and evolving requirements of corporate travel. In 2019 Focus became a limited company and, today has a membership four times its original size, with members’ combined turnover totalling more than £1bn per annum.

Membership of Focus enables travel management companies to negotiate beneficial partnership agreements with travel suppliers around the world.

Focus enables a collaborative voice on industry matters to be heard across the industry, regulatory bodies and governments. In this way, Focus is able to set the agenda and steer conversations and agreements on important industry issues like airline fare distribution, the latest technology developments, sustainability within the industry and duty of care – a topic that has come to the forefront in 2020.

Scott Pawley is Focus Travel Partnership’s Director of Technology & Innovations

The partnership has a Board of seven directors, including GTM’s Scott Pawley who is responsible for bringing technical innovations to the Focus panel, such as the industry-leading Focus Fare Finder product developed by Scott and his team.

Chief Executive Officer Abby Penston leads the partnership and directs the Focus panels. Adrian Parkes has joined the Board as Non-Executive Chairman.

Mick Gibbs is the partnership’s Director of Industry Affairs, promoting Focus at industry events. Christian Gleave is the Operations Director, running the operational teams and managing third party support and other services. Cilla Goldberger is the Marketing & Events Director, splitting time between brand management and developing the partnership’s range of events. Martin Pearce is the Director of Business Development, managing the whole process of acquiring and implementing new partners. Wendy Walker is the Supplier Management Director, overseeing the partnership’s supplier relationships. And Adam White has the role of Finance Director for the Focus Travel Partnership.

Scott Pawley explained how a corporate client can benefit from GTM’s membership of Focus:

Like all Focus partners, we have direct access to the lowest fares from most of the world’s leading airlines, thanks to our collective bargaining power. And we – like all Focus members – have access to the most competitive hotel and car hire rates and exceptional high-level relationships with all suppliers. So GTM’s membership of Focus means our clients benefit from the great, personalised service we always offer all our clients, but they also benefit from cheaper fares previously only available through larger, less personal travel management companies.  The best of both worlds.

In addition, I make sure Focus works closely with leading technology companies to produce a range of tools, datasets and travel management applications which are delivered as part of GTM’s offer to clients, having been built, tested and proven by some of the industry’s most demanding businesses.


If you would like to know more about how clients benefit from GTM’s membership of Focus, please contact us.