WTTC forecasts record 2024 for business travel spending

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is projecting that total global business travel spending will reach $1.5 trillion this year, surpassing pre-pandemic levels by 6.2 per cent, according to the organisation’s 2024 Economic Impact Trends Report.

This total marks a turnaround from business travel’s lagging recovery in previous years, which the WTTC attributed to virtual communication platforms replacing some face-to-face meetings.

In 2023, global business travel spending was still 5.4 per cent below the 2019 peak, while global leisure travel had recovered to 2.9 per cent below its 2019 peak, said the WTTC in its report.

WTTC president and CEO Julia Simpson added: “After a challenging few years, business travel is not only back on track, but it is recovering much faster than expected, highlighting the importance of international travel for businesses around the world.

“While virtual meetings played a crucial role during the pandemic, keeping people and businesses connected, today’s report shows that business is better face-to-face.”

Simpson also noted that several major business travel markets “are expected to reach record numbers this year”.

Germany is projected to surpass its 2019 record by 1 per cent to reach a total of $87.5 billion in 2024, with business travel in the UK and France also reaching record levels, with estimated totals of $84.1 billion and $42.1 billion respectively.

Outside Europe, US business travel spending is forecast to reach $472 billion in 2024, which would be 13.4 per cent above the previous record in 2019, while spending in China will increase to $211 billion – 13.1 per cent above the record level set in 2019.

The WTTC’s report also highlighted the growth of “blended travel” with more travellers combining business trips with a holiday, as well as a “strong comeback” for the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry.

The Global Business Travel Association’s annual Business Travel Index, published in July, projected a similar level of global business travel spending ($1.48 trillion) in 2024 as in the WTTC’s report, also noting it would be the first year that total spending surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

Although, the GBTA added that this year’s spending increase was partly driven by price increases – 2024’s forecast total spending would still lag all-time highs on an inflation-adjusted basis and imply that volumes will remain below 2019 levels.