The Open World: The future of work and beyond

With global business travel spending expected to surpass 2019 levels in 2024, two years sooner than previously forecast, and the resurgence of business travel very much at the top of Travel Manager priorities, how prepared are immigration professionals and visa processing centers for the influx of travelers? In a world of accelerated digitization, security considerations, and political reciprocity; where visa processing issues are finding their way onto the legislative agendas in many countries; THE OPEN WORLD PODCAST host, Ray Rackham, will review key initiatives, challenges and opportunities that have presented themselves in 2023, and will extract the lessons learned to empower Travel Managers and human resources professionals in building programmatic responses for 2024 and beyond.

Governments worldwide are refreshing and rethinking immigration laws in order to revitalize economies, deal with skills shortages, or address aging resident populations. These revisions are opening the window for successful immigration advocates to promote change.Advocates focus on improving employment access for partners and family members of highly skilled international employees. Join host Ray Rackham in this episode of The Open World PODCAST as he discusses the importance of advocacy with Gill Gordon, Chair of the non-profit organization, the Permits Foundation.Ray and Gill explore the twenty-two-year history of the Permits Foundation, what it means to care passionately about the rights of people we may never meet, and how advocacy plays a pivotal role in advancing this cause and positively impacting immigration and mobility policies.

Return to travel has been accelerating exponentially since the COVID-19 pandemic, with travel spending set to return to 2019 volumes by 2024 (two years earlier than predicted). The surge in demand for tourist and business Visas is resulting in processing delays, causing economic repercussions for the U.S. tourism sector. The need to create a frictionless experience by overcoming any legislative or procedural obstacles preventing travelers from border crossing is becoming vital.

In this episode of The Open World Podcast, host Ray Rackham dives into ongoing post-pandemic challenges, State Department processing delays, and long Visa wait times. He is joined by Shane Downey, Vice President of Government Relations at The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the authoritative voice of the $1.4 trillion business travel industry.

Ray and Shane discuss GBTA’s ongoing advocacy efforts, from urging the U.S. to expand ‘pre-clearance’ at foreign airports for U.S.-bound flights to political interventions aiming to reduce visa wait times through the Visa Processing Improvement Act. GBTA’s support extends across other countries and regions, including the European Union.