Group Business Travel Spending Exceeds Individual Travel Spend in the United States

GBTA’s recently released quarterly U.S. business travel forecast, GBTA BTI™ Outlook – United States, showed the growth rate for business travel spending in the country is slowing. The study also looked into both group and individual business travel. Individual business travel soared in 2014, growing 6.7 percent, but total spending fell 0.3 percent over the…

Delivering Sustainability Results with Supplier Partners

Sustainability in Action… So far in my sustainability series posts we have talked about the principles, opportunities and benefits from creating a ‘Responsible Travel Program’. Let’s now look at a real-life example of how working with your suppliers can deliver a great program, and a significant return on investment. Autodesk is a global leaders in…

Government Shutdown More Than Just Political Theater
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Government Shutdown More Than Just Political Theater

In a couple short weeks, we will face a political standoff over the debt ceiling and the prospect of yet another government shutdown a few weeks after that. An op-ed from GBTA ran on The Hill’s Congress Blog this week about the lasting and real impact this is having on the economy. I know the Trump 2016 reality…

Millennials Want to Travel More for Business
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Millennials Want to Travel More for Business

A new study released today from the GBTA Foundation, in partnership with American Express, reveals that Millennials are significantly more likely to want to travel more for business than Baby Boomers (45 percent to 26 percent, respectively). In addition, a majority of Millennials (57 percent) believe technology can never replace face-to-face meetings to get business…

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Week in Review

This week in business travel news, Inc. covered the latest GBTA study, in partnership with American Express, showcasing the Millennials’ secret weapon for winning over business. Successful Meetings also covered the study, writing about Millennials embrace of business travel with a majority of the group saying technology can never replace face-to-face meetings to get business done. In…

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Extended Stay Accommodations: Satisfaction, Preferences & Challenges

Earlier this month, GBTA released a study on extended stay accommodations in partnership with WWStay. It looked at usage patterns and preferences finding differences across generations and genders when it comes to U.S. international business travelers and also covered how extended stay accommodations fit into travel policies. This post looks into satisfaction, preferences and challenges…

Travel Buyers Show Strong Support For Current Distribution System
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Travel Buyers Show Strong Support For Current Distribution System

On September 1, the Lufthansa Group implemented a €16 per booking surcharge on travel purchased anywhere other than its websites, service centers and airport ticket counters. This morning we issued the findings from a new global survey conducted by GBTA and its European partner network showing 42 percent of travel buyers surveyed have decreased bookings with Lufthansa since it…

BRICs No Longer a Bloc for Business Travel Growth

This morning we released findings from GBTA’s BTI™ Outlook semi-annual forecast reports on Brazil, China, India and Russia, sponsored by Visa, Inc. Our VP of research, Joe Bates, is also presenting the results this week at ITB Asia in Singapore. In the latest round of forecasts, we found the BRICs are no longer acting as…

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Companies Must Address the Glaring Gap in Ground Transportation Policies

American business travelers are masters at understanding the planes, trains and automobiles that we all rely on. We know just when to arrive at the airport so we can make it through security and walk onto the plane. We know which train is likely to be on time, and which one is always delayed.  And…

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Airfares Drop Due to Plunge in Oil Prices, But Rising Fees Negate Savings

The GBTA Foundation released its quarterly U.S. business travel forecast last week. It included a projection that average airfares have dropped to $379 this year, down from $392. This is a long anticipated drop for consumers due to the collapse in global oil prices. I talked about this phenomenon with Fortune’s Chris Elliott who wrote…