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US business travel set for a good year
It should be a good year for business travel, the Global Business Travel Association says.
The group yesterday raised 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 business travel will rise 5.1% this year, to $268.5 billion – a substantial increase from 1.8% growth in 2012.
The growth comes in large part due to group spending, now expected to increase 6% to $115.9 billion, up from 5.2% growth forecast in Q4.
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 one to two quarters.
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.
By Cheryl Rosen, Editor TravelMole US
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Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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