CORPORATE TRAVEL
BOARDING PASS All the latest news for the busy EA organising corporate travel
Australian leaders forecast a strong travel and economic bounceback in early 2022
This year ’ s Illuminate conference attracted some of Australia ’ s top business leaders and nearly 1400 business guests , who shared the view of a promising economic and travel recovery in 2022 .
Alan Joyce gave a promising outlook for Australia ’ s travel recovery now that most states are learning to live with COVID and there are domestic and international reopening plans .
NSW scrapping hotel quarantine was needed to get businesses travelling again , Mr Joyce said . He anticipates Qantas will return to 100 per cent of pre-COVID domestic travel by early 2022 . Specifically , flights between Sydney and Melbourne will return to Qantas ’ s pre-COVID schedule of 55 flights per day by February 2022 .
“ We will progressively , from the first week in November , go back to nearly 15 flights a day and by Christmas get back to closer to 30-40 flights per day . In February , when business comes back , we will be close to the pre- COVID schedule .”
Mr Joyce forecasts a positive return to international travel for Australia , and he is planning for almost all Qantas aircraft to be in the air by July 2022 .
Mr Joyce reassured businesses that , as we open , travel will be a very similar experience to pre-COVID , with the only difference being the retention of some of the protections that are currently in place such as masks , social distancing , and hand sanitiser .
Bill Evans shared his growth outlook for the next 12 months . His analysis of credit card data revealed that spending in NSW and Victoria has started to pick up . The recovery of these two states will help Australia start to see a turnaround in GDP this December quarter . However , the real momentum will build from the first half of 2022 and through the year as Australia reopens .
Mr Evans revealed that a turnaround in credit card activity among airlines and travel agents has commenced and will mostly be forward bookings . Credit card transactions for car rentals and hotels , however , are yet to begin rebounding .
He predicts that Australia will look very good internationally in 2022 after its vaccination program reaches very high levels , just as we were world leaders in our containment of the virus in 2020 . This “ will stand us in good stead to ensure no more snap lockdowns and much more freedom of movement around the country ,” he said .
Mr Evans says all these factors combined will drive spending in the travel sector .
Jayne Hrdlicka reflected on her first year as the head of the airline . What Virgin has done really well as a company is “ listen and adapt and adjust based on what is happening around us . We have been good at being responsible when borders are open and when closed , and hibernating and protecting the business and driving aggressive transformation behind the scenes . You will have seen us adding lots of flights in markets that are open , so we are flying between South Australia , Tasmania , Queensland , Western Australia and the Northern Territory . We have added 12 new routes to make that possible .”
Ms Hrdlicka also said the company is ramping up its travel offerings to businesses and consumers in the lead up to Christmas , both domestic and international . “ Promisingly , we ’ ve accelerated our thinking regarding international travel . We plan to resume flights to Fiji from mid-December , with the possibility to add Bali to the mix .” S
Has your boss got their vaccination passport ?
As an EA , you ’ ve most likely been keeping an eye on the return of business travel . As Australia begins to ease restrictions and slowly resume travel , corporate travel will quickly be back on the cards .
But in order to travel safely , travellers will be required to have proof of COVID-19 vaccination . Australians are now able to download and print out internationally recognised proof of vaccination and can even add a ‘ digital vaccination passport ’ to their smartphone wallet . You can also add it to the Travel Pass app used by Qantas and many other airlines .
The paper and digital systems will use a secure QR code that includes information on the type of vaccine and the dates it was administered . This passport was designed to meet the global standards specified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation . These standards will be upheld by all airlines , border authorities and airports around the world .
You can access this international certificate via the myGov website or from the Medicare Express app .
“ The launch of the international proof of vaccination is a key step towards safely reopening international borders and supporting Australia ’ s COVID-19 economic recovery ,” said the Federal Minister for Employment , Workforce and Skills , Stuart Robert .
Australia ’ s international travel ban is set to be removed on November 1 , allowing citizens , permanent residents , and their families to leave the country without obtaining special government approval . S
Summer Issue 2021 | Executive PA 49