So if you’re still waiting for the upturn in business travel, you’re too late – it’s already here.

Newly released data from the Business Travel Association shows business travel between the UK and UAE has exceeded 2019 levels for two consecutive weeks. We’re not only ahead of where we were during the pandemic in an increasing number of cases; we’re ahead of where we were before it.

By now, businesses should have rewritten their travel policies. Employee numbers will have changed. Passport requirements are different. Covid vaccinations need to be logged and uploaded. And, prior to any trip, individuals travelling on business need to know their testing requirements.

So travel management companies already have an immense job just to make sure any client business is ready to travel at the time of their choosing.

But businesses won’t wait until TMCs are ready. The companies working to rebuild UK plc’s balance sheet have been gearing up for months. Business travel is now urgent. We’re seeing that every day, the pent-up demand for travel advice and guidance is almost without precedent.

Those best-placed to take advantage of the oncoming surge in business travel are those who have spent the pandemic preparing for it. Talking to customers, tailoring solutions for the new normal like a “Brexit counter” – the method by which TMCs can determine how long any traveller has spent in the EU in order to stay within the new 90-day limits.

Don’t wait

Passports and Covid certificates are issues for all travellers. But during the pandemic, another obstacle hit business travel: changing rules for UK citizens travelling to work in the EU.

Do you know what work requires visas in each of the 27 EU countries? If you’ve spent the pandemic waiting for the return of business travel instead of preparing for its return, you have a lot of catching up to do.

So for the TMCs that have hunkered down, hibernated or holed-up throughout the pandemic, now is almost too late to get back to business. If you’re waiting for the recovery, you’ve missed it.

Scott Pawley is managing director of UK-based TMC and business travel specialists Global Travel Management, and is a former director of the Focus Travel Partnership.