Chinese Business Travelers Spend $110 Billion USD on Meetings & Events in China

Alexandria, VA (November 2, 2015) – In the first-ever assessment of China’s Meeting, Incentive, Convention, & Exhibition (MICE) market, the GBTA Foundation found a total of 138.5 million domestic trips were taken for MICE purposes and MICE business travelers spent a total of $110 billion USD (¥680 billion CNY) during those trips in 2014. Nearly one-third (29 percent) of Chinese business travelers expect the number of MICE meetings they will attend to increase over the next year.

Business travel for MICE activity comprises 42 percent of total domestic business travel volume in China and 45 percent of total business travel spending. Shanghai (27 percent) and Beijing (25 percent) hosted the majority of MICE trips in China over the last 12 months, followed by Guangzhou (24 percent), Hong Kong (11 percent) and Macau (6 percent).

These findings come from a new study, Market Assessment of MICE Business Travel in China, conducted by the GBTA Foundation, the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Association, and sponsored by Starwood Hotels and Resorts.

“This first-ever assessment of China’s MICE market shows just how large this segment is in China making up 42 percent of total domestic business travel and producing spend of $110 billion USD – second only to the United States,” said Joseph Bates, GBTA Foundation Vice President of Research. “The MICE segment presents a large opportunity for travel suppliers and we expect it to continue to grow at a rapid pace as China’s economy expands.”

“We are excited to partner with GBTA Foundation for this unique study focused on China’s Meetings & Events industry,” said Nichlas Maratos, Vice President, Sales- Asia Pacific, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “As we continue our aggressive growth strategy across China, the findings not only help us better understand the nature and the size of the MICE industry, it will also help shape the future of our business. It’s also reassuring to see that the study affirms our efforts and growth plans in China, where we currently have over 150 hotels in operation and more than 150 hotels in the pipeline.”

In the past 12 months, 86 percent of busines travelers have taken a trip for MICE purposes in China and each business traveler spends an average of $1,100 USD (¥6,782 CNY) per trip.Chinese MICE trips last 2.9 days on average with the majority of trips (59 percent) lasting between two and four days. Most business travelers (64 percent) reach their MICE destinations by airwhile 18 percent travel by train and 14 percent by car. MICE meetings are typically held at conferences and convention centers (38 percent) or hotels (33 percent).

The study, Market Assessment of MICE Business Travel in China, is available exclusively to GBTA members by clicking here and non-members may purchase the report through the GBTA Foundation by emailing pyachnes@gbtafoundation.org. To view an abstract of this research, please click here.

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

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 1,200 properties in some 100 countries and over 180,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences under the renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, Aloft®, Element® and the recently introduced Tribute Portfolio™. The Company also boasts one of the industry’s leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG®). Visit www.starwoodhotels.com for more information and stay connected @starwoodbuzz on Twitter and Instagram and facebook.com/Starwood.

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 gbta.org and gbta.org/foundation.

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