Cost, Privacy, 'Hassle Factor' Issues Top Business Travel Policy Agenda; NBTA Announces 2004 Legislative and Regulatory Goals.

Business Editors/Travel Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2004

Initiatives to protect traveler privacy and to more fairly allocate travel security costs top the 2004 policy agenda of the business travel community, according to the National Business Travel Association (NBTA).

NBTA, the voice of the business travel industry, urged Congress to facilitate the movement of travelers through airports, while preserving vital security precautions.

"For all practical purposes, travel security is national security," said Bill Connors, NBTA executive director and COO. "If we have learned any lesson from the events of September 11, 2001, it should be that when travel security is breached, all aspects of our national life are adversely affected." Connors urged Congress to adopt a series of measures intended to maintain adequate security while eliminating unnecessary delays; broadly fund the costs of travel security; and restrict access to personal traveler information.

NBTA said it will ask Congress to alleviate the burden of security-related taxes and fees on business travelers. The association will request that Congress call for a General Accounting Office report on the aggregated impact of post-September 11th security fees and costs on air travel in this country. "For many years business travel-related industry sectors have carried the burden of paying for travel security," Connors asserted. "But costs now have reached a point at which they are a drain on business travel - at the expense of the larger economy. Because the implications of travel security really affect all Americans, whether they are traveling or not, Congress should look to general revenues as the primary funding source," he said.

According to NBTA, the security cost burden shouldered by business travelers is dramatic: taxes and fees on airline tickets have increased 90% since 1989, while base fares for business travelers, including taxes, have increased 16%. Today, taxes and fees make up approximately 26% of the cost of the typical airline ticket.

In light of the recent concerns of CAPPSII, NBTA will also support a bill (HR 338) requiring federal agencies to conduct a "privacy impact analysis" before promulgating security-related regulations. The legislation would not prohibit the collection of information, Connors said; rather, it would "provide a mechanism by which legitimate privacy concerns would be considered."

Likewise, NBTA will support a bill, "The Aviation Security Technical Corrections and Improvements Act of 2003" (HR 2144), designed to make important aviation security improvements, including improving consistency of passenger screening training and procedures at all U.S. airports. NBTA announced that it would vigorously support rules to enhance security screening standards at airports, possibly including the creation of a "registered traveler" program to ease airport congestion. According to Carol Devine, NBTA president and CEO, "many business travelers gladly would identify themselves for participation in a program intended to provide a high level of travel security in exchange for some facilitated movement through security checkpoints."

NBTA President Devine pointed out that the overall economy and business travel are inextricably linked. "Business travel drives the economy, and vice versa," she said. "When the economy slows, business travel is affected; when business travel eases off, the economy is slowed. Congress, therefore, should act to prevent further drain on the resources and the travel experience of the business travel sector, when dealing with a challenge that is truly national in scope."

NBTA unveiled its policy agenda at the conclusion of "The Masters Program," the premier educational forum for senior executives of the travel industry, in Washington.

The National Business Travel Association is the source for critical information on the business travel industry.

For more than 35 years, NBTA has dedicated itself to the professional development of its members through advocacy, education and training, and networking opportunities. NBTA represents over 2,400 corporate travel managers and travel service providers, who collectively manage and direct more than $170 billion of expenditures within the business travel industry.