A Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) report predicts that global business travel spending will hit a record $1.18 trillion in 2014. This number shows a 6.9% increase from last year.
Although the Asia Pacific region has the largest share of the business travel spend market, China is still leading out of all the 75 countries in the GBTA’s report. China has grown from $32 billion in 2000 to $225 billion in 2013. This accounts for an average of 16.2% each year compared to business travel spending from the U.S., which has grown at an annual rate of just 1.1% since 2000, according to the report.
Other findings in the report showed that travel spending in the U.S. and Western Europe will grow on a slower rate than China. GBTA predicts the Asia Pacific region will have gained another five percent in market share, while the U.S. and Western Europe will lose three percent and two percent.
“This report underscores that China, along with the other BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia and India are leveraging their business travel expenditures into more economic opportunities,” said GBTA Executive Director and COO Michael W. McCormick. “We expect to see this shift in business travel spending to continue.”
Unlike China, the GBTA predicts Russia may see a drop in business travel due to the instability in Ukraine. In 2014 business travel spending is expected to drop more than five percent, according to GBTA.
Read the full press release here.
