Western Europe’s business travel spending is projected to increase to $211.2 billion USD in 2016 and top out at $225.6 billion USD in 2017, 6.3% and 6.8% growth respectively.
Those figures are among the key findings in the most recent GBTA BTI™ Outlook – Western Europe report, conducted by the GBTA Foundation, the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), and sponsored by Visa, Inc.
The GBTA BTI™ Outlook – Western Europe report looks at the five largest business travel markets in Europe: Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain that together make up 70 percent of Western Europe’s business travel market, and serve as a strong indicator for the market more broadly.
Taken together, the trends of these five countries demonstrate that Western Europe’s business travel confidence and demand is growing due to a number of positive factors that are projected to continue into next year.
“What’s most impressive about these results is that Europe has faced a seemingly endless array of challenges recently,” said Catherine McGavock, GBTA’s Regional Vice President – EMEA. “From the Greek debt crisis to the influx of Syrian refugees, terrorist attacks in several European capitals, and the pending U.K. referendum on possibly exiting the bloc, the business travel market has not only endured, but thrived – growing at a greater rate over the last year than many of the other large business travel markets across the globe.”
Business Travel Growth Seen in Northern and Southern Europe
Europe’s positive growth will continue at a respectable rate, and that growth is not confined to the continent’s larger, northern economies.
Europe’s southern tier is also faring better than expected with an improved outlook as consumer confidence returns and a favorable business climate promulgated by low interest rates and oil prices and rising demand and investment continue. Italy and Spain, for example, will see growth rates of 7.3 percent and 11.9 percent, respectively from 2015 to 2017.
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