U.S. business travel will increase by 4.9% in 2015. Photo via Matthew Hurst/Flickr ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/skewgee/8107134068/ )

U.S. business travel will increase by 4.9% in 2015. Photo via Matthew Hurst/Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/skewgee/8107134068/)

U.S. business travel spending will increase by 4.9% in 2015 to $302.7 billion, according to the “GBTA BTI Outlook — United States 2015 Q2,” a report by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Foundation and sponsored by Visa Inc.

The 2016 outlook anticipates a surge in economic activity and confidence, with travel spending projected to increase by 5.4% to $318.9 billion, according to the GBTA report.

Total trip volume follows a similar trend for 2015 and 2016. In 2015, U.S. travel volume is expected to increase by 1% to 488.1 million person-trips — an average of 1.3 million trips for every day of the year, says the report. Growth will increase in 2016 with business travel volume accelerating by 3% to 502.8 million person-trips. That amounts to an average of more than 38,000 additional business trips every day.

“U.S. business travel was poised for significant growth in 2015, but the erratic performance of key economic drivers caused some to tap the brakes on additional travel spending,” said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA’s executive director and COO. “Yet, economic fundamentals remain strong. Business travel will continue to have positive momentum as we move toward 2016, a leading indicator that the overall economy will continue to grow as well.”

For more information, visit www.gbta.org.

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