We have kept this issue short and focused on the things most likely to land on a travel manager's desk this month. Two entry and border changes are the practical headline; a stalled regional recovery and a reminder about seasonal and event-driven disruption round it out.
Border and entry rules are the operational story
Brussels has ended the "safety valve" that allowed border checks to be relaxed at busy moments, and airlines have warned that longer queues are the likely consequence (Skift). Separately, Thailand has tightened its entry rules and shortened visa-free stays as part of a shift towards what it calls "quality tourism" (Skift), a change that bites hardest on longer, long-haul itineraries rather than short trips. Both are worth checking against your pre-trip approval criteria and your connection-time assumptions before your next wave of bookings goes out.
Renewed warnings in the Middle East
Skift's Travel Health Index reports that the Middle East's recovery has stalled again, with renewed travel warnings making a rapid rebound less likely (Skift). For organisations with people in or routing through the region, this is the moment to confirm that your traveller list is accurate, that check-in expectations have been communicated, and that your escalation contacts are current.
Disruption you can plan for
Two reminders that some disruption is foreseeable. Host Hotels & Resorts has put a $105 million figure on hurricane repair and resilience work at a single property, while noting that investment in resilience does not reduce risk to zero (Skift). And in Delhi, the BRICS summit pushed hotel rates up fourfold as supply tightened (Skift) — a useful illustration of how quickly accommodation options can disappear when a major event and your travellers arrive in the same city at the same time. Both are arguments for looking further ahead in the calendar than the next fortnight.
If you would like to talk through how any of this fits your own duty of care obligations, talk to us about duty of care.