U.S. Business Travel Industry Spends $72.8 Billion in Q2

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A leading travel industry forecast found business travelers spent an estimated $72.8 billion on U.S.-originated business travel during the second quarter of 2014, a 7.1 percent year-over-year growth. This rise in spending comes despite a slight year-over-year reduction of -0.1 percent in the total number of trips taken in the second quarter. Likewise, during the 2014 calendar year, group business trips – travel to business meetings or conferences – are expected to dip 3.3 percent, while spending on group business travel is expected to increase by 5.9 percent. Together, these findings underscore the fact that businesses are spending more per trip, indicating a strengthening economy.

In total, U.S.-generated business travel spending is expected to increase by 6.8 percent to $292.3 billion in 2014, according to the GBTA BTI™ Outlook – United States 2014 Q3, released by the GBTA Foundation, the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), and sponsored by Visa, Inc.

"The continued strong demand in business travel spending is a positive sign for our economy – this signals that companies are continuing to put travelers on the road to achieve their business objectives," said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO. "As always, business travel spending is a leading indicator of overall economic growth."

The report's key findings include:

• While individual business travel volume is only expected to grow 2.3 percent in 2014 – in line with GBTA's 2Q 2014 forecast – spending is expected to increase 7 percent year-over-year, driven by higher travel prices and additional spend-per-trip.
• Similar to individual business travel, group travel spending is expected to disproportionately increase over volume, increasing 5.9 percent year-over-year in spend while simultaneously declining 3.3 percent in volume. Evolving meeting technology and other substitutes is one possibility to explain the loss of volume.
• Travel costs are expected to increase 2.9 percent this year and an additional 3.5 percent in 2015, led by rising food and beverage costs, hotel prices and airfares. These expectations have been raised from the previous quarter, mainly due to increasingly higher food and beverage costs and airfare.

"With both business travel volume and travel costs forecast to rise in 2015, corporate travel programs are looking for ways to manage expenses and help improve their bottom line," said Tad Fordyce, SVP, global commercial solutions, Visa Inc. "As a leader in the corporate travel market, Visa provides best-in-class solutions to improve reporting and automation on business travel purchases."

In addition, the study identified other key trends that could impact business travel in the coming months, including household and business sentiment, international outbound business travel and inflation concerns.

Households and Businesses' Increased Positive Sentiment Lead to Increased Spending

Households and businesses are feeling optimistic about the near-term future and their spending behavior will begin to reflect that sentiment. Consequently, businesses are poised to step up their investment in equipment, information technology, and structures. This activity will be accompanied by gains in business travel spending.

International Outbound Business Travel Increases, Hampered by Global Factors

International outbound business travel, a key indicator of the global economic recovery, is expected to grow in volume by 5.6 percent in 2014, followed by another 6.5 percent in 2015. This comes after a minor 1.1 percent increase in 2013. Key factors that prevent international outbound business travel from rising at a faster pace include the struggling European recovery, a moderating Chinese economy and economic challenges in many emerging markets in Latin America.

Rising Inflation Concerns Speculative…For Now

With unemployment falling and the GDP accelerating – reaching 4.6 percent in 2Q 2014 – attention has shifted to the risk of rising inflation with some analysts drawing similarities to the 1970s. Currently, there is no evidence of rapidly rising consumer prices, runaway borrowing or dangerous asset bubbles. While this could change at any time, underlying evidence suggests continued moderation for now.

GBTA BTI™ Progresses Upward

The GBTA BTI™, a proprietary index of business travel activity, is estimated to reach 136 in Q3 2014, bolstered by a strengthening domestic economy, an improving external environment and slightly higher travel prices. This represents a two-point gain over the previous quarter.

The BTI is expected to continue rising for the rest of 2014, reaching 137 by the end of the year.

Key Metrics:

To view the full release with charts, click here: http://www.gbta.org/PressReleases/Pages/rls_100714.aspx

The GBTA BTI™ Outlook – United States report is available exclusively to GBTA members by clicking here and non-members may purchase the report through the GBTA Foundation by emailing [email protected]. To view an abstract of this research, please click here.

About the GBTA BTI™ Outlook – United States 
The GBTA BTI™ Outlook – United States projects aggregate business travel trends over the next eight quarters. The report includes key buy-side metrics such as total business travel volume and spending, plus supply-side projections of changes in costs, across both transient and meetings travel. Releases are published on the second Tuesday of each quarter.

The GBTA BTI™ Outlook uses an econometric model created by Rockport Analytics to better inform the forecast process. The model explicitly relates measures of business trip volume and spending, sourced from D.K. Shifflet & Associates to key economic and market drivers of business travel including: U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its components, U.S. Corporate Profits and Cash Flow, U.S. Employment & Unemployment, ISM Business Sentiment Index, Key Travel Components of CPI (airfare, lodging, food away from home, rental cars, fuel, transportation), among other components.

About the GBTA Foundation
The GBTA Foundation is the education and research foundation of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world's premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. Collectively, GBTA's 7,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its growing network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts with world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media. The Foundation was established in 1997 to support GBTA's members and the industry as a whole. As the leading education and research foundation in the business travel industry, the GBTA Foundation seeks to fund initiatives to advance the business travel profession. The GBTA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, see gbta.org and gbta.org/foundation.

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SOURCE Global Business Travel Association