China has inched ahead of the United States as the world’s largest business travel market.
That is the finding from the Global Business Travel Association’s latest ‘Outlook – China’ business travel report.
It says Chinese business travel spend reached $291.2 billion compared to $290.2 billion in the US.
"Despite a relative slowdown, China’s business travel market remains one of the fastest growing in the world," said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO.
"China surpassing the United States in business travel spending marks a major inflection point and truly demonstrates the global nature of today’s economy."
The report highlights the predominantly domestic nature of business travel in China, with just 5% of the total involving outbound trips.
An annual growth rate of about 10% is expected in 2016 and 2017, widening the gap, GBTA says, with US travel spending only likely to rise by 2% this year.
