Ebola and business travelers

The current impact on business travel and travelers.

As the Ebola virus continues to make headlines, we’ve summarized its current impact on business travel and travelers. Keep in mind that the situation is constantly evolving.

How is Ebola affecting business travel?

Currently, five U.S. airports (New York JFK, Newark, Atlanta, Washington Dulles and Chicago O’Hare), two U.K. airports (Heathrow and Gatwick) and six Canadian airports (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, Ottawa and Calgary) have begun screening passengers arriving by air from the three countries most affected by the Ebola virus: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The screening consists of questionnaires and temperature checks; the screen takes place in areas separated from normal airport traffic. In the U.K., Eurostar passengers arriving from Brussels and Paris will receive similar screenings.

As the Ebola virus continues to make headlines, we’d like to know whether the situation is affecting your corporate travel program. 

Take our quick poll and tell us.

The current bottom line: Passengers traveling from and to all other countries should experience little to no Ebola-related disruption to their travel. No government or health authorities have implemented measures or made recommendations to stop travel (border closures, etc.).

Should you take any steps within your program to address the Ebola situation?

In addition to applying your normal corporate standards to assess the necessity and risk of any business travel, the most important step is simply staying informed. There are many misconceptions about Ebola and its transmission. Reliable sources of information include the websites of the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How can your travelers stay informed?

In addition to the resources mentioned above, we encourage our customers’ travelers to follow our recently launched regional “travel watch” Twitter accounts. These accounts are important sources for news on potential risks and delays while traveling.

The Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific regions each have a separate account for incidents specific to those regions. Incidents with global resonance will be tweeted to all three accounts:

@BCDAmericas
@BCDEMEA
@BCDAPAC

Your travelers can follow the feed related to the region in which they’re traveling. Once they finish their trip, they can unfollow to avoid cluttering their Twitter timelines.

icon-electricBCD Travel’s Global Crisis Management team is actively monitoring this and all other situations with the potential for significant travel impact, 24/7. Should we see a material change in the situation, we will inform our customers promptly.

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