NBTA Praises International Travel Facilitation Pilot Program 

CONTACT:      

Caleb Tiller, +1 703-684-0836 ext. 138, ctiller@nbta.org

Nicole Hayes, +1 703-684-0836 ext. 133, nhayes@nbta.org 

The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) – the largest association representing the business travel community – today praised the launch of a pilot program to automate the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Form I-94W for Visa Waiver Program travelers from Auckland, New Zealand to Los Angeles International Airport. Under this pilot program, an effort NBTA has supported for years, passengers traveling with an approved travel authorization via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) are not be required to fill out the paper 1-94W form.

Michael W. McCormick, NBTA Executive Director & COO, said, “In today’s challenging times, facilitating international commerce is crucial to job creation and economic recovery. This pilot program, one that NBTA has long encouraged, promises to set in motion an initiative to tear down barriers and speed up the process for international business travelers entering and exiting the United States. We look forward to the program’s success and swift expansion to ensure the safety and efficiency of travelers coming to the United States from around the world.”

The 30-day pilot program will be tested on Air New Zealand Flight 6 starting November 12. CBP will evaluate the program’s success and consider expanding it to additional Air New Zealand flights during the testing period.

The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. NBTA and its regional affiliates – NBTA Australia / New Zealand, the Brazilian Business Travel Association (ABGEV), NBTA Canada, NBTA Europe, NBTA Mexico, and NBTA USA – serve a network of more than 17,000 business travel professionals around the globe with industry-leading events, networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. NBTA members, numbering more than 5,000 in 30 nations, are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers. They collectively manage and direct more than US$340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually on behalf of more than 13 million business travelers within their organizations. For more information, visit www.nbta.org