Business Travel Industry Drives Jobs, GDP Growth in Mexico

GBTA Foundation Report Reveals Business Travel Impact on Mexican Economy and Jobs Business Travel Spending in Mexico Totaled $263.2 Billion Pesos in 2015 and Contributed $273.5 Billion Pesos to Mexico’s GDP

Mexico City (April 13, 2016) – A new report issued today by the GBTA Foundation at GBTA Conference 2016 Mexico highlights the positive economic impact that road warriors have on the nation’s economy and explores the quantitative impact business travel has on the Mexican economy. The study, sponsored by Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), reveals business travel spending in Mexico in 2015 reached $263.2 billion pesos ($15 billion U.S. dollars) making it responsible for 1.4 per cent of Mexican GDP.

The impact study also found businesses sent travelers on the road in Mexico for 17.2 million domestic business trips. The business travel industry supports 1.2 million jobs, $70.4 billion pesos in wages and salaries and also generates $71.2 billion pesos in federal and state level taxes.

“Business travel has proven time and again to be a major economic driver,” said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO. “This study shows that to be true once again as for every 1 percent increase in business travel spending in Mexico, the Mexican economy gains $2.6 billion pesos and 11, 800 jobs. Nothing can replace face-to-face interactions when it comes to getting business done, so it comes as no surprise the huge impact the business travel industry has on Mexico’s economy.”

“IHG believes companies distinguish themselves by their strong focus on analyzing traveler´s tendencies and by taking a proactive approach based on these to become and maintain a position as a leader in the industry,” said Gerardo Murray, Vice President Brands and Marketing for Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, IHG. “The Mexican market without a doubt, is one of the most important in Latin America and this research allows companies to refine their strategy to approach consumers of this key economy in a more efficient way.”

More study highlights include:

• In 2015, business travelers in Mexico spent an average of $11,472 pesos per trip including $3,356 on airfare, $3,331 on lodging, $956 on ground transportation, $2,027 on food and beverage in restaurants, $508 on entertainment and $1,294 on shopping and merchandise.
• Air is the primary means of transportation for the majority (68 percent) of business trips in Mexico. Nearly 7 in 10 (69.2 percent) Mexican business trips were taken for individual business purposes such as sales trips, client services trips or government and military travel, while 30.8 percent were taken for group travel purposes including conventions, group training and seminars.
• Business travel in Mexico contributed $273.5 billion pesos in Mexican GDP – essentially every dollar spent on business travel generated about $1.04 in GDP.
• Total trip volume grew 7.1 percent in 2015 and total spending by business travelers grew by 9.9 percent.
• Business trips were well distributed throughout the country in 2015 with only the South-Central Mexico region receiving an outsized proportion of business travel volume.
• Mexican business travelers are likely to be mid-career (age 35-54). Business travelers have an average monthly household income of $59,783 pesos, 61 percent are men and 82 percent have obtained a bachelor’s degree or higher. While Mexican business travel occurs across a diverse range of industries, those working in education and training had the largest share of business travel activity in Mexico (12 percent).

More Information
The report, The Mexican Business Travel Industry: Business Travel’s Impact on Jobs and the Mexican Economy in 2015, is free of charge to all GBTA Members by clicking here. Non-members may purchase the report through the GBTA Foundation by emailing pyachnes@gbtafoundation.org. The GBTA Foundation will also hold a webinar on the report sponsored by IHG on May 25, 2016 at 2pm ET. Registration is now open. To view a preview of this research, please click here.

About the GBTA Foundation
The GBTA Foundation is the education and research foundation of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. Collectively, GBTA’s 7,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its growing network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts with world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media. The Foundation was established in 1997 to support GBTA’s members and the industry as a whole. As the leading education and research foundation in the business travel industry, the GBTA Foundation seeks to fund initiatives to advance the business travel profession. The GBTA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, see www.gbta.org and www.gbta.org/foundation.

About InterContinental Hotels Group

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with a broad portfolio of hotel brands, including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, HUALUXE® Hotels and Resorts,Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, EVEN™ Hotels, Holiday Inn® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®. In January 2015, IHG acquired Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, the world’s leading boutique hotel business.

IHG manages IHG® Rewards Club, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty programme with over 84 million members worldwide. The programme was relaunched in July 2013, offering enhanced benefits for members including free internet across all hotels, globally.

IHG manages IHG® Rewards Club, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty programme with over 84 million members worldwide. The programme was relaunched in July 2013, offering enhanced benefits for members including free internet across all hotels, globally.

IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns over 4,800 hotels and more than 710,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries, with over 1,200 hotels in its development pipeline. Over 350,000 people work across IHG’s hotels and corporate offices worldwide.

In January 2015 we completed the acquisition of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, adding 62 hotels (11,300 rooms) to our system size and 16 hotels to our development pipeline.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.ihgrewardsclub.com for more on IHG Rewards Club. For our latest news, visit: www.ihg.com/media, www.twitter.com/ihg,www.facebook.com/ihg or www.youtube.com/ihgplc.

CONTACT: Colleen Gallagher, +1 703-236-1133, cgallagher@gbta.org

About the Global Business Travel Association
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. GBTA’s 9,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA and the GBTA Foundation deliver world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media to a growing global network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts. To learn how business travel drives lasting business growth, gbta.org