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Meeting spend will rise 6%, GBTA predicts
Meetings spend will fuel a recovery in corporate travel this year, the Global Business Travel Association says, as it raised its predictions for 2013.
The group last week upped its travel forecast for the year, citing an improving economic outlook in the US and rising business and consumer confidence.
The GBTA BTI™ Outlook – United States 2013 Q1 predicts that meetings will grow by 6% in 2013. That’s even more than the overall 5.1% growth of business travel in general this year. Growth in 2012 was just 1.8%.
Business travel spend will reach $268.5 billion in 2013, the study predicts. The volume of trips, though, is expected to remain essentially flat, down 1.1%.
The BTIndex is now estimated to reach 121 in Q1 2013, finally exceeding its pre-recession high of 120 and back from its low of 97 in Q4 2009. The index is expected to continue rising for the rest of 2013, reaching 126 by the end of the year.
The report shows a strong correlation between stock prices and business travel spending, with stock prices historically leading trip volume by 1-2 quarters (as shown in the chart below).
Job development is now on the rise in industries that tend to require more business travel, such as business services, finance, and utilities. This is a marked shift from late last year when job creation favored less travel-prone sectors, like retail and restaurants, GBTA said.
"Business confidence is up and the need to compete in the global economy is driving companies to invest in business travel," said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO. "While there are still many factors that could hamper the economy again, from the impact of sequestration to rising energy prices, business travel spending is heading in the right direction so far in 2013."
Cheryl
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