Chinese business travel spending is expected to continue to experience strong growth over the next five years, despite economic uncertainty, according to the latest outlook from the Global Business Travel Association.
Revealed at the 2015 GBTA Convention in Orlando, Fla., the report forecasts Chinese business travel spending will increase 61 per cent over the next five years. The growth represents an increase greater than the business travel forecast for the next eight largest countries combined, including the United States, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, France, Turkey and Japan.
“Despite recent economic speed bumps, China will pull away as the global leader in business travel over the next five years,” said Michael W. McCormick, executive director and chief operating officer, GBTA. “On the horizon, we’ve identified five nations that are also seeing extraordinary growth and could very well turn into the business travel markets of the future. Another market to watch is India, which is statistically where China was 15 years ago.”
GBTA predicts overall global business travel spending will grow 6.5 per cent from 2014 and continue to grow until the end of the decade, with spending projected to increase 6.9 per cent in 2016, 6 per cent in 2017, 6.4 per cent in 2018 and 5.8 per cent in 2019.
Last year, more than two-thirds of total business travel spending occurred in the United States, China and Western Europe. Asia Pacific has the largest share of the business travel market, with 39 per cent, followed by North America with 27 per cent and Western Europe with 24 per cent. By 2019, GBTA foresees Asia Pacific gaining another 3.5 percentage points in market share, while the United States and Western Europe will lose 2.7 and 0.6 percentage points, respectively.
Five emerging markets are expected to become key business travel markets in the future, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland and Turkey.
Do you agree with this forecast from GBTA? Email us. Please include your full name and location with your email.
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