London’s Old Billingsgate vaulted back onto the travel-industry calendar this week as it hosted the opening of Connections Luxury UK & Ireland (20-23 September), the country’s largest business-to-business forum dedicated to premium leisure and corporate travel. The by-invitation event brings together 300 luxury-travel designers from across the UK and Ireland with global hoteliers, cruise lines and destination-management companies for one-to-one meetings and experiential networking. Organiser Connections – part of the Jacobs Media Group that owns Aspire Travel Club – said attendance has exceeded 2019 levels, reflecting International Air Transport Association data showing UK outbound travel spend is on track to reach US$175 billion by 2032. Delegates report that high-net-worth clients are lengthening European city-breaks and demanding more sustainable itineraries, while corporates are booking ‘bleisure’ add-ons to long-haul assignments, blurring the line between business and leisure mobility. For UK-based global-mobility functions, the rebound in premium travel is a double-edged sword: airlines are reinstating business-class capacity and new non-stop routes to secondary Chinese and US cities, expanding options for assignees; yet tight luxury-hotel inventory in gateway cities is driving up long-stay rates. Procurement teams attending the forum are negotiating block-rate agreements that bundle duty-of-care features such as 24/7 medical support and flexible cancellation policies. Sessions on day two focus on ‘frictionless borders’, featuring Home Office officials discussing the roll-out of Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) for visa-exempt visitors and the EU Entry/Exit System. Suppliers are urged to integrate real-time visa-compliance checks into booking flows to reduce airport-desk refusals that have risen since ETA enforcement in February. The event’s strong showing underscores the UK’s role as a powerhouse source market for high-value travel and signals opportunities for employers to leverage enhanced air connectivity and concierge-style mobility services when designing assignment packages post-Brexit.
Source: Connections Luxury
