Business travel CEOs urge U.S. government to take action on COVID testing, tracing and data sharing

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.”

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.