Global business travel spending to surpass $2T by 2028: GBTA

Dive Brief:

• Global business travel spending will hit a record $1.48 trillion in 2024 and surpass $2 trillion by 2028, according to the latest figures from the Global Business Travel Association. 
• The projected number for this year marks an increase over the previous record of $1.43 trillion, which was hit just before the pandemic in 2019. 
• The spending increase signals that business travel is moving “into a new era of post-pandemic stabilization,” according to GBTA. The association’s CEO, Suzanne Neufang, however, warned that the next few years may be affected by headwinds for business travel including “changing economic conditions, technological advancements and sustainability developments.” 

Dive Insight:

Global business travel spending will increase just over 11% in 2024, GBTA projects. That’s a lower growth rate than in 2023 and 2022, which saw 30% and 47% growth year over year, respectively. 

GBTA predicts that business travel spending growth will continue to moderate in coming years to an annual compound growth rate of 6.95% from 2025 to 2028. 

Much of that spending has gone to lodging. In 2023, $501 billion of the $1.34 trillion total spent went to accommodations — the top category, leading over air travel, food and beverage, ground transportation and other travel expenses. 

On the individual level, travelers surveyed by GBTA said lodging accounts for the greatest portion of their own business travel spending, making up $312 out of the average $834 trip. 

And the U.S. is still a top business travel market, landing just behind China for business travel spending at $361.6 billion projected expenditure for 2024, according to GBTA. 

“We are witnessing the expected rebound in the sector, reflecting the resilience and adaptability of businesses and the value of business travel worldwide,” Neufang said in a statement Monday.

A previous GBTA report called business travel a “major boost” to the U.S. economy, noting that the sector supports more than 600,000 jobs in the accommodations industry alone. 

U.S. businesses are spending more on travel in 2024, according to Deloitte, which projects that companies will increase their corporate travel spend on average between 14% and 15% this year and next. 

Hotel companies are increasingly catering to that growth, with Marriott International, Hilton and Wyndham all launching booking platforms for business travelers, specifically, in recent months.