Business Travel Worldwide - International

This report provides an overview of business travel worldwide and the trends that will influence future developments in the sector. The report is broken down by type of travel service (ie airlines, car rental, rail, hotels), as well as by major country travel market. There are also individual sections about travel management, loyalty programmes, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) travel and teleconferencing, the quality of which has improved greatly in recent years as the cost has come down. Following two years of decline (in 2008 and 2009), spending on business travel and tourism finally bounced back in 2010, increasing by 6%. According to World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) forecasts, growth is likely to have accelerated to a rate of 6% in 2011 and should grow by 6.4% in 2012. By 2021, the WTTC expects that expenditure will have increased by 56% in real terms to reach US$1.4 trillion (in 2011 Dollars).

Business travel is a part of tourism as defined by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and includes sales calls, routine intra-corporate visits, travel by public-sector employees, training sessions and MICE, but notably excludes gypsies, migrant workers, diplomats and military personnel on duty. Although business travel only accounted for 15% of cross-border travel in 2010, according to the UNWTO, it contributes a higher level of receipts per tourist to destinations and travel-service providers than personal travel and tourism, due to intensive use of hotels and banqueting facilities, as well as business- and first-class air and rail travel. Indeed, in 2011, the WTTC estimates that business travellers accounted for over 23