According to a survey published on 11 October by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), almost half (40%) of business travel professionals have already been negatively impacted by the shutdown that has been affecting the US administration since 2 October. The majority of those surveyed (57%) said that the shutdown had led to the cancellation of meetings or contract opportunities. The uncertainties surrounding the US economy have had an impact on the same proportion of professionals (57%), and half of them (50%) have been affected by cancelled bookings. Logically, companies with links to federal agencies are seeing contract negotiations blocked or even cancelled (48%), and the prospect of a reduction in traffic caused by a drop in air traffic control staff is of concern to almost a third of those surveyed (29%). "The shutdown is reducing productivity and wiping out opportunities for contracts and profits that cannot be recovered," warns Michael W. McCormick, Executive Director of the GBTA.
