Restarting international travel

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 35 total)

  • SimonS1
    Participant

    So it looks from Boris announcement yesterday that the key dates are 12th April (when a travel review is published) and 17th May for the international travel ban to be lifted. The hotel quarantine model was due to be reviewed on 31st March so perhaps it is all connected.

    It sounds like the Government is leaning a bit more towards a vaccination passport or similar.

    Such a shame that on something as critical as opening up the economy the various Governments cannot co-ordinate themselves to present a single story to the population. It always seems that Sturgeon, Drakeford and co are a cross between that irritating echo you get sometimes on an international call and some small dog snapping around your feet to let you know it is still there.

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    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    If International travel is to restart on the 12th April, HKG will still be off limits. Just had notification that International arrival quarantine (3 weeks) will be extended until 30th September – although travel bubble corridors may be reinstated. What will the rest of Asia do???

    I just hope we have somewhere to go, besides 2 weeks in Spain!!

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    Premier01
    Participant

    On a related topic there was an article on here the other day quoting LoganAirs CEO saying thay he believes the days of long business travel trips for consultants, IT, Finance and Insurance are gone thanks to the pandemic, replaced instead with online working.

    Yet hotel companies continue to announce new properties, some of which are clearly designed for busienss travel.

    As someone grounded for a few months on local work before the pandemic, I was looking forward to starting consultancy freelance work involving regular travel. Not only do I find it more conducive to meet face to face, I enjoy being able to get out and about.

    No one has a crystal ball and I accept things will change for sure, but what peoples thoughts on how business travel will pan out?

    Sure there are business owners or those in decision making roles for large companies on here who are having to look at this now that could share theire views?


    ASK1945
    Participant

    [quote quote=1093264]Yet hotel companies continue to announce new properties, some of which are clearly designed for busienss travel.[/quote]

    Premier01 – sorry I can’t answer your question(s), but you did highlight something that has been confusing me for some months – the number of business hotels that have been announced since the pandemic commenced. Of course, many of these hotels were past the point of no return (ie too late to be cancelled) so building was completed, with the hope that business travel would have returned by now. But what is beyond my undertanding is th number that are being announced where building has not yet started, in areas that are not for tourists.

    I used to live in Manchester and when I left there 16 years ago there may have been a dozen good hotels in the city centre. Seemingly, a new one seems to have opened every month for the last few years. Who is filling them – or more importantly, who will be filling them?

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    AnthonyDunn
    Participant

    A friend is just returning to Shenzhen via HKG and is currently holed up for his 21 days quarantine. Looking forward to it like a hole in the proverbial.

    Is there anywhere else in the world that has as lengthy a quarantine right now?


    DavidGrodentz
    Participant

    [postquote quote=1093253]

    Hi Martyn

    I may have read it wrong but my understanding is that Hong Kong has extended the law that allows the quarantine to be in place until September 2021, rather than actually extending the quarantine to September 2021

    I really hope so, would really love to travel on something that doesn’t resemble a double decker bus


    woodyhoo
    Participant

    The “road map ” is just kicking the can down the road.

    Holding out the “carrot” that if we all obey ,then our freedom will be given back to us in dribs and drabs.

    Then ,guess what? Another variant will force another lockdown.Ad infinitum.

    Boris has no power and has to enforce the Gates/WHO/WEF agenda.

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    Inquisitive
    Participant

    One of the best innovative idea from Singapore.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-18/singapore-opens-bubble-for-business-travelers-at-changi-airport?utm_source=url_link

    This could be starting point of regular business travel, post COVID-19.


    Premier01
    Participant

    Who is filling them – or more importantly, who will be filling them?

    ^ Yes- these are the two big questions. You’re right about there being a lot of new hotels announced that clearly have made that decision to during the course of the pandemic.

    These companies aren’t stupid so must have a very good inlking that business travel will restart at some point.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    Chris in Makati
    Participant

    [postquote quote=1093278]

    I certainly hope the quarantine restrictions in Hong Kong don’t go on for too much longer. I’m entitled to the HK$10,000 handout that the HK government is giving to permanent ID card holders, but I need to travel to Hong Kong in person to collect that money. Three weeks quarantine in a hotel would eat up all of that money before I even got my hands on it.

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    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    I don’t think ZOOM / Teams etc will ever really replace face to face meetings. One of the problems I have experienced is that it makes pre-discussions almost impossible. At board meetings I attend it’s quite usual to discuss beforehand over dinner or coffee in the morning to find out other board member’s opinions and / or to garner support for an upcoming motion. So much of the day’s business has been concluded before we even formally sit down.

    Likewise, and this will be interesting to know, how many opening deals are sealed over a good lunch or dinner? Face to face in an office or for a presentation is fine to a point, and can be done with ZOOM, but 95% of all my deals over the years were sealed during a meal, on the Golf Course, on a yacht or other social activity.

    For this reason I believe international travel will start again and in 12 months we’ll all be moaning again about crowded airports, overbooking, downgrades on planes and so on.

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    jsn55
    Participant

    I agree that business will not successfully run with a camera image on a computer screen. It’s always interesting to contemplate who thinks this might be true. The politicians and bureaucrats make these decisions when many of them have never even had a real job. In the US, they just listen to the loudest liberal and make their pronouncments, hoping to please people rather than actually govern.

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    Inquisitive
    Participant

    Luganopirate commented:

    “Likewise, and this will be interesting to know, how many opening deals are sealed over a good lunch or dinner? Face to face in an office or for a presentation is fine to a point, and can be done with ZOOM, but 95% of all my deals over the years were sealed during a meal, on the Golf Course, on a yacht or other social activity.”

    Agree that was the norm. Not major business deals, but I have achieved many technical agreements before the actual meeting in informal gatherings like dinner, mainly from gaining trust and commitments. But I believe the “new normal” will be different.

    This was discussed in other forum as well. The business owners, accountants and top management realised how far can be achieved without travelling during the past 1 year. And the savings to the large companies from less travel are enormous.

    So yes, there will be business travel but far far less. As the technology continues to improve, many travels for witnessing tests, design meetings and even regulatory board meetings will be done remotely. And conferences and trade exhibitions related travel will reduce purely due to economic realities.

    My prediction is that business travel will continue to decline, except some high level business deals or technical discussions. But non-business and tourists travel will increase and that will be much more compared to pre-COVID-19 level. For me and my family and friends circles, the realization came that we must meet more frequently and we must see places. And I am sure we are not unique in that mentality.


    scott1nthesky
    Participant

    Premier01-

    I think there’s a growing appetite to re-start in-person work. I’m also in consultancy and I assumed travel would stop, especially as I’m in healthcare. The opposite is true and travel has been picking up despite lockdown as health organisations see in-person work as more productive than the remote alternative and they can manage risks with increasing confidence.

    I’ve been guided by senior clinicians in this, most are feeling pretty positive about the months ahead in terms of easing restrictions and opening travel. They differ quite significantly from the science people who think we should stay locked down for longer, but the doctors and nurses are more pragmatic with this (not a criticism, an observation). Interestingly, the majority of clinicians I work with have international travel booked over the summer and autumn. This might mean leisure travel bounces back faster than business, if the Loganair CEO’s prediction is accurate. Normally I quite like having so many different opinions but this is very frustrating.

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    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    [quote quote=1093674]Interestingly, the majority of clinicians I work with have international travel booked over the summer and autumn.[/quote]

    It is not just a case of the Government allowing us Brits to travel again & the airlines offering seats at enticing prices. The places we need to travel to, must also allow us in…. without spending 2 weeks (3 weeks in the case of HKG) in prisoner style quarantine. Or families needing to spend £150 extra per person for Covid testing…

    2 users thanked author for this post.
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