During a recent ITM Buyer Knowledge Exchange there was a shared concern from buyers regarding significant changes for travellers returning to the EU for business travel. These included changes in legislation and increased enforcement of certain paperwork requirements since business travel was last at volume in 2019. As a result of this shared challenge for buyers ITM set up a working group to focus on supporting the buyer community with the aim to provide guidance on what to be aware of, who to engage with and how to best prepare their travellers for a return to business travel to and within the EU.

In addition to immigration considerations relating to the UKs departure from the EU, there has also been amendments to the Posted Workers Directive which impacts some short term business trips and has also brought increased enforcement for business travellers to prove where they pay social security contributions. A1 certificates/forms were raised specifically for discussion during the buyer knowledge exchange and it was apparent that for many buyers there was a lack of clarity around what they were and why or when they would be required. Additionally there was the question of who within an organisation was responsible for them and for ensuring travellers held the correct paperwork.