'Don’t wait for the upturn in business travel – you’ve already missed it'

But businesses won’t wait until TMCs are ready. The companies working to rebuild UK plc’s balance sheet have been gearing up for months. Business travel is now urgent. We’re seeing that every day, the pent-up demand for travel advice and guidance is almost without precedent.

Those best-placed to take advantage of the oncoming surge in business travel are those who have spent the pandemic preparing for it. Talking to customers, tailoring solutions for the new normal like a “Brexit counter” – the method by which TMCs can determine how long any traveller has spent in the EU in order to stay within the new 90-day limits.

Don’t wait

Passports and Covid certificates are issues for all travellers. But during the pandemic, another obstacle hit business travel: changing rules for UK citizens travelling to work in the EU.

Do you know what work requires visas in each of the 27 EU countries? If you’ve spent the pandemic waiting for the return of business travel instead of preparing for its return, you have a lot of catching up to do.

So for the TMCs that have hunkered down, hibernated or holed-up throughout the pandemic, now is almost too late to get back to business. If you’re waiting for the recovery, you’ve missed it.

Scott Pawley is managing director of UK-based TMC and business travel specialists Global Travel Management, and is a former director of the Focus Travel Partnership.