The CEOs of TripActions, TravelBank and Upside Business
Travel have sent a letter to U.S. congressional leaders urging them to fund
nationwide COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and an open data program.
The letter, signed by TripActions CEO Ariel Cohen,
TravelBank CEO Duke Chung and Upside Business Travel CEO Scott Case, says reliable
information about the spread of the virus is “critical to restart the business
travel that helps power the U.S. economy.”
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The CEOs say their companies and others in the corporate
travel space have been building innovative products and services to provide business travelers information about health advisories, travel restrictions and infection
trends, but these tools rely on up-to-date data.
“In the current pandemic environment, it is more important
than ever for employers to have the information and tools they need to meet
their duty of care to their traveling employees,” the letter states.
It goes on to say, “the availability and integrity of
infection data is crucial for companies and their travelers to feel confident
and safe to get on an airplane, stay in a hotel, visit a new city, or cross the
ocean.”
To address this, the letter asks Congress to fund three
priorities:
- Support at the federal, state and local level to offer
robust testing and contact tracing
- Support for the timely reporting of all testing and tracing
data to a central clearinghouse of information in a standardized format
- Make relevant infection data available to scientists,
researchers and businesses, in open format, to support innovation and increase knowledge of the pandemic.
Last
week, CEOs from 14 American travel brands, including Hilton, Marriott International,
InterContinental Hotels Group and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, sent a similar
letter to President Trump and congressional leaders.