A forecast by The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) found that U.S. originated business travel grew nearly 3 percent year-over-year, with company spending for business travelers increasing 7.6 percent to $71.2 billion during the first quarter of 2014. Overall, U.S. generated business travel spending is expected to increase 6.8 percent to $292.3 billion in 2014.
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The GBTA released the GBTA BTI™ Outlook – United States 2014 Q2, sponsored by Visa, Inc. The report shows the relationship of business travel to overall U.S. economic growth.
Some of the report’s key findings include:
- The total number of domestic person business trips in 2013 was revised upward to 468.8 million from the previously reported 448.7 million, resulting in a 4.7 percent year-to-year gain. Spending remained consistent with the previous forecast at $241 billion, indicating a lower-than-estimated spend per trip.
- Group business travel outperformed individual business travel in 2013, growing 8.6 percent, an indicator that the business travel industry is recovering from the Great Recession and increasing discretionary spending.
- While individual business travel volume is expected to grow 2.3 percent in 2014, spending is expected to increase 5.6 percent, driven by higher prices and additional spend-per-trip.
In addition, the study identified other trends that could impact business travel in the coming months, including the price of oil, cost of travel and international outbound business travel.