Western Europe Business Travel Spend to Grow

November 17, 2014

The GBTA Foundation, the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), announced November 13 the results of its latest GBTA BTI Outlook – Western Europe report, a semi-annual analysis of the five most critical business travel markets in Europe: Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain. These five markets serve as a good barometer of the health of the entire European business travel market. The report, sponsored by Visa Inc., includes the GBTA BTI, a proprietary index of business travel spending that distills market performance over a period of time.

Key highlights of the report include:

  • Business travel spending in the five markets is expected to hit $186.4 billion in 2014, a 4.9 percent growth over 2013. The projected rate of growth is expected to increase by another 6.6 percent in 2015, to $198.7 billion, as overall spending picks up.
  • 2014 is shaping up to be a true bounce-back year for European travel. Business travel spending in the five European business travel markets advanced by 4.3 percent over the first half of the year — the largest gain in business travel spending since 2010.
  • The UK, Sweden and Spain experienced growth, while the economies of Italy, France and Denmark stalled in the first half of 2014. Despite a weak second quarter, the German economy continues to remain one of the most robust in all of Europe.
  • Overall economic conditions throughout Europe continue to be sluggish, however, with only 0.8 percent growth in Euro Area GDP in the first quarter of 2014 and no growth during the second quarter. High unemployment rates persist, and household incomes are not yet increasing at confidence-boosting rates. Businesses continue to be reluctant to borrow, hire and invest.
  • Given the region’s continued low levels of inflation, slowly improving domestic demand, and more favorable credit conditions, GBTA anticipates modest economic growth going forward. GBTA anticipates an increase in real Euro Area GDP of 0.9 percent in 2014 and 1.7 percent in 2015, which will contribute to stronger business travel activity.

“After experiencing many quarters of decline, Europe appears to be stabilizing and starting to bounce back,” said Catherine McGavock, Regional Director for Europe for GBTA. “We still face many hurdles, but it appears the tides are gradually changing for economies all over Europe. This will contribute to a strong 2014 and 2015 for business travel throughout the region.”

“With business travel spending forecast to rise in 2015, businesses are looking for ways to effectively manage expenses and help improve their bottom line,” said Sandra Alzetta, executive director, Core Products, Visa Europe. “As a leader in the corporate travel market, Visa provides best-in-class solutions to improve reporting and automation on business travel purchases.”

A webinar discussing the findings will be held on December 2, 2014.

The GBTA BTI Outlook – Western Europe is free of charge to all GBTA Members. Non-members may purchase the report through the GBTA Foundation by emailing pyachnes@gbtafoundation.org. To view an abstract of this research, please click here.

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