The German Business Travel Association (VDR) has unveiled a five-step roadmap that it says will enable business travel to restart during and after the coronavirus pandemic, saying there is an urgent need to ¡°remove existing travel obstacles as quickly as possible".?
The association's proposals are as follows:
? Quarantine waiver for business travellers?
When the number of Covid cases has reached a low level, business travellers should be allowed to enter and leave the country free of quarantine.?
? Use of digital vaccination / test certificates
With CommonPass, IATA TravelPass or the EU vaccination pass, there are several initiatives for a digital vaccination certificate. The VDR supports these initiatives so that vaccinated people can travel again without restrictions in Germany, in the Schengen area and finally globally.
? Clear hygiene rules for suppliers
Airlines, rail companies, car rental companies and hotels, but also event providers should be required to implement strict hygiene concepts.
? Investigate the wider use of rapid Covid tests
Covid-19 rapid tests could be a cost-effective and widely applicable instrument to enable air travel, but also, for example, meetings, trade fairs and events again. This requires virological advice on the extent to which rapid tests can make business appointments safe again.?
? Strengthen trust in corporate duty of care?
Business trips differ significantly from tourist trips in their preparation and implementation. The health of business travellers is a high priority for companies in the context of their duty of care, which is why travel guidelines and specially developed concepts include preventive measures. This includes, for example, providing advance information on how to behave responsibly when traveling.
VDR president Christoph Carnier said, ¡°The lifting of travel
restrictions and transparent, practicable rules both nationally and
internationally are indispensable prerequisites for the German economy
in order to loosen internal company restrictions.?
¡°Companies and travel providers are in a constant learning and
adaptation process in dealing with the virus, but they need a certain
degree of planning security. Different standards of the providers in
terms of hygiene and ventilation concepts as well as different
regulations of the federal states make this task more difficult. State
measures play a decisive role here, and we are happy to help shape these
with our proposals.¡±
He added, ¡°We are currently seeing a growing need for companies to
catch up when it comes to face-to-face exchanges with international
teams, providers and customers. For export world champion Germany,
business trips at home and abroad remain the basis and an important
flywheel for current and future business. The German economy therefore
needs viable concepts developed with joint expertise in order to remove
existing travel obstacles as quickly as possible.¡±