Firms Anticipate Biz Travel Slump In Wake Of Trump Travel Ban

Corporate travelers are struggling to overcome challenges thrown their way by President Trump’s travel ban, according to reports by The New York Times.

The publication reported this week that businesses are facing disruptions in their corporate travel plans due to the Trump administration’s executive order, signed late last month, that prevents citizens from several nations from entering into the U.S.

According to the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), nearly 40 percent of professionals said the travel ban would have a negative impact on business travel plans.

“People like certainty, travelers like certainty, companies like certainty,” said Greeley Koch, the ACTE’s executive director, in an interview with the publication. Otherwise, businesses and employees will “just err on the side of caution and not take the trip.”

Last week, a survey conducted by the Global Business Travel Association found that businesses are cutting business travel activity in response to the executive order. The majority of professionals surveyed said there is uncertainty over whether green cards and visas would still be considered valid for entry into the U.S. More than a quarter said they expect the order to cause a long-term reduction in business travel, reports said.

One executive, Mark A. Boyer, executive director of the International Studies Association, told the publication that his firm’s annual convention could be impacted by the travel ban, considering many of the event’s attendees usually come from outside the U.S.

“That obviously raises a lot of implications,” Boyer said, adding that he estimates that 100 or more event attendees may ultimately decide not to come.

“We’re really just trying to get a handle on that now, given that nobody is certain how this is going to be implemented,” he noted. “But I think there are a lot of other folks who are backing out out of fear.”

The executive said his company could lose up to half a million dollars if people pull out of attending the event.

Another executive, Steve Rudner, founder and managing partner at Rudner Law Offices, said that one corporate group of about 40 professionals decided to cancel its trip to a hotel represented by his firm. The cancelation was due to the company’s chief executive’s concerns; he has dual Canadian-Iranian citizenship and was worried he wouldn’t be able to enter the U.S., Rudner said.

“Anytime, as a country, we throw up a sign that says certain people are not welcome, certain people will be detained or denied entry, there are many groups who will not want to risk denial of entry,” Rudner said, adding that the corporate group may be out as much as $58,000 thanks to the last-minute cancellation.