The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released on Sept. 11 the results of its GBTA BTI Outlook-Brazil, an in-depth report of business travel in the region that highlights the increase in travel spending over the next year.
The GBTA BTI Outlook for Brazil found that business travel will continue to grow despite the global economic conditions including infrastructure restraints and domestic demand. The report forecasts Brazilian business travel spending to grow by 9.3% in 2012 to $30.1 billion and another 12.6% in 2013.
If the spending trends continue at such levels as the global economy recovers, the GBTA report states that Brazil is expected to surpass South Korea and become the world’s eighth-largest market for business travel spending.
In order to improve airport, hotel and other travel infrastructure, Brazil plans to add 30,500 new hotel rooms, which will be in demand due to the World Cup in 2014 and Olympics in 2016. Additionally, the Brazilian government is set to implement policies to stimulate domestic demand and make up for a decline in exports, according to the report.
Domestic business travel currently contributes 80% of business travel spend, while in 2012 outbound business travel grew at twice the domestic travel rate, the GBTA report states.
“The outlook for Brazil is encouraging for both the economy and business travel,” said Wellington Costa, president of GBTA Brazil. “The forthcoming elections in Brazil should create conditions for future growth as policies that stimulate domestic demand are set to continue. With travel spend growing in lockstep with this expansion in demand, GBTA is optimistic about the outlook for business travel and the economy as a whole.”
The GBTA BTI Outlook projects aggregate business travel trends over the next eight quarters. The model used relates measures of business travel spending, sourced from other GBTA Foundation research, to key economic and market drivers of Brazilian business travel including: gross domestic product (GDP) and its components; employment and unemployment; measures of business and consumer confidence; international trade, foreign direct investment and exchange rates; commodity and oil prices; inflation measures; productivity rates for business travel; International Air Transport Association (IATA) Passenger and Revenue Performance and Smith Travel Research (STR) Global Hotel Performance.
