Australian border closures costing us deals, says CTM boss Jamie Pherous

Corporate travel boss Jamie Pherous has seen one big business deal lost to an overseas company because of ongoing border closures and warns more are likely.

Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly has not ruled out offering cash incentives or merchandise as an incentive for people to get the Covid jab. Picture: Getty Images

Australia’s king of corporate travel Jamie Pherous has warned big business deals are already being lost due to border closures and the risk the country won’t reopen until mid-2022.

With a growing number of countries reopening to vaccinated travellers, the Corporate Travel Management founder said Australia could not afford to be left alone.

He said a CTM customer recently lost a multibillion-dollar deal in the US because of concerns they could not execute the project without being able to travel.

“The company that won the contract was American-based even though it was (my client’s) deal to lose. They met all the other criteria,” Mr Pherous said.

“The concern is if global trade particularly across the Atlantic opens up which is imminent, Australian companies will be missing in action.

“When you look at economies around the world, everyone is over-investing in infrastructure, architecture, things Australian companies are great at, and they’ll be left out of the play if someone else can be there to see it and do it.”

A survey of CTM customers found the border closure was hurting companies in three key areas: doing business, the supply chain and bringing people together.

Mr Pherous said he understood the need to vaccinate the majority of the population before reopening, but the rollout was not happening fast enough.

“It’s still very simple – we’ve got to accelerate vaccinations and incentivise people to get vaccinated, whatever that might look like,” he said.

“I’ve a very strong suspicion that when the rest of the world opens up imminently, Aussies will look over and say ‘I want to go travel’. We need the rest of the world to lead that and clearly they are.”

Corporate Travel Management CEO Jamie Pherous: ‘If trade opens up, Australian companies will be missing in action.’ Picture: Liam Kidston.

In the US, United Airlines is asking travellers to upload their Covid-19 vaccination card for a shot at winning a year of free flights.

In the first 12 hours of the promotion, more than 100,000 people had applied, the equivalent of four uploads a second.

Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly has not ruled out offering cash incentives or merchandise as an incentive for people to get the Covid jab, particularly as winter hits.

Mr Pherous said Australian governments needed to adopt the same approach as the US and Britain, both of which were close to reaching herd immunity.

“I get a little frustrated when I see that there’s been 50,000 Covid tests in a day and only 1000 vaccinations. In other parts of the world, when you’re getting tested, you are getting the jab at the same time,” he said.

“It’s very clear overseas: if you’re fully vaccinated you can travel. For me that is a big enough incentive but for those who can’t see the light, do we give vouchers for certain people?

“If our border is still closed in two years, that’s not a very good predicament to be in for a democratically free country.”

Mr Pherous said CTM was already seeing an increase in clients who recognised it was no longer feasible to book an overseas flight online.

He said even when borders reopened, international travel was likely to be much more complex.

“We’re seeing international itineraries that used to take 10 minutes now take two hours to do. The art is now having experts at the other end of the phone who can get seats because it’s a land grab trying to get on and off a plane,” said Mr Pherous.

“Also understanding the paperwork you need – you don’t want to be transiting somewhere and getting caught if there’s a lockdown. You want to get your people out quickly and manage that.”

He expected travellers would want detailed information about the hygiene practices of the airlines they were flying, and the hotels they were staying in.

“We’ve built all that into the technology we’re using, and it’s been very well received. We’re seeing that in our client wins,” he said.

As a result, CTM has returned to profitability after a $8.2m loss in 2019-20 and is again hiring staff.

“We expect to be a much larger business post-Covid-19 but a lot is weighing on the vaccination rollout,” said Mr Pherous.