{"id":34540,"date":"2026-08-03T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/?p=34540"},"modified":"2026-08-03T17:22:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T21:22:29","slug":"global-business-travel-spending-to-hit-record-1-71-trillion-in-2026-while-trips-reach-1-84-billion-says-gbta-forecast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/global-business-travel-spending-to-hit-record-1-71-trillion-in-2026-while-trips-reach-1-84-billion-says-gbta-forecast\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Business Travel Spending to Hit\u00a0Record\u00a0$1.71 Trillion in 2026, While Trips Reach 1.84\u00a0Billion,\u00a0Says\u00a0GBTA Forecast\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>GBTA\u2019s&nbsp;latest Business Travel Index report&nbsp;shows&nbsp;spending gains driven by higher prices as geopolitical&nbsp;uncertainty&nbsp;and transportation pressures weigh on the outlook<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Global business travel spending is forecast to reach a record\u00a0<strong>$1.71 trillion USD in 2026<\/strong>,\u00a0with\u00a0the number of business trips worldwide\u00a0expected to\u00a0surpass 1.84 billion. The\u00a0forecast\u00a0highlights\u00a0how rising transportation and travel costs are increasingly driving\u00a0higher\u00a0industry\u00a0prices,\u00a0ahead\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0number\u00a0of trips.\u00a0<br><br>This is according to the\u00a0<em>2026\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/research\/2026-business-travel-index-bti\/?utm_medium=pr&amp;utm_source=cision&amp;utm_campaign=product_global_research_bti_august_2026&amp;utm_content=pressrelease\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>GBTA Business Travel Index<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0(\u201cBTI\u201d) Annual Global Report\u00a0and\u00a0Forecast<\/em>,\u00a0released today\u00a0which projects\u00a0global business travel spending\u00a0to increase\u00a0<strong>7.2%<\/strong>\u00a0in 2026. The report\u2019s\u00a0first-ever\u00a0analysis of\u00a0worldwide business travel volume\u00a0projects\u00a0approximately\u00a0<strong>1.84\u00a0billion trips\u00a0<\/strong>for work will be taken<strong>\u00a0in 2026<\/strong>. This is\u00a0up from an estimated\u00a0<strong>1.82 billion trips in 2025\u00a0\u2013 an increase of\u00a01.3%<\/strong>.\u00a0<br><br>los\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/research\/2026-business-travel-index-bti\/?utm_medium=pr&amp;utm_source=cision&amp;utm_campaign=product_global_research_bti_august_2026&amp;utm_content=pressrelease\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reporte<\/a>\u00a0also reveals that global business travel spending grew\u00a0<strong>8.4% in 2025 to $1.59 trillion<\/strong>, outperforming last year&#8217;s forecast of 6.6% growth, supported by stronger-than-expected economic activity, easing trade tensions\u00a0in\u00a0the second half of the\u00a0year\u00a0and\u00a0overarching currency exchange\u00a0effects. Global\u00a0spending is projected to surpass\u00a0<strong>$2 trillion by 2030,<\/strong>\u00a0one year later than forecast last year\u00a0due to\u00a0moderating growth rates\u00a0after 2026,\u00a0yet\u00a0still\u00a0supported by sustained business investment and international commercial activity.\u00a0<br>\u00a0<br>Unveiled by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) during its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/convention.gbta.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2026 Convention<\/a>\u00a0in Chicago, the 18th edition of the BTI\u2014made possible again this year by Visa\u2014represents\u00a0the industry&#8217;s most comprehensive outlook on business travel. The report covers 72 countries and 44 industries and includes survey insights from more than 4,700 business travelers across 66 global markets.\u00a0<br><br>\u201cThe big story this year is that companies haven&#8217;t stepped away from travel, but they are increasingly more selective and productivity-focused,\u201d said Suzanne Neufang, CEO of GBTA. \u201cWhile business travel spending continues to grow,\u00a0the number of\u00a0trips\u00a0is rising more slowly,\u00a0making it necessary for all of\u00a0us to assess\u00a0industry and organizational impact. Travel remains essential,\u00a0and\u00a0companies are\u00a0critically\u00a0disciplined about where,\u00a0how\u00a0and why they travel.\u201d\u00a0<br><br>\u201cAs business travel spending grows faster than trip volume, companies are placing greater emphasis on the value of every journey,\u201d said Edward Galvin, Vice\u00a0President\u00a0and Head of North America Visa Commercial Solutions.\u00a0\u201cOrganizations need greater visibility,\u00a0control\u00a0and flexibility to manage rising travel costs and measure ROI. Modern payment technologies help travel and finance teams better track spending, improve efficiency and simplify the travel experience, making it easier for companies to adapt as business travel continues to evolve.\u201d\u00a0<br>\u00a0<br><strong>Rapidly\u00a0Rising Costs,\u00a0More Moderately\u00a0Rising Demand,\u00a0Drive\u00a0Business Travel\u00a0Industry\u00a0Growth<\/strong>\u00a0<br>\u00a0<br>In addition to the\u00a0spending\u00a0forecast,\u00a0for the first time\u00a0this year\u2019s report\u00a0provides\u00a0global business travel volume\u00a0for 2025 and 2026,\u00a0adding\u00a0perspective\u00a0on\u00a0business travel\u2019s\u00a0growth and\u00a0the effect of rising prices.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Global business travelers made an estimated&nbsp;<strong>1.82 billion business trips<\/strong>&nbsp;in 2025.&nbsp;Asia and Europe accounted for the highest volumes, each&nbsp;approaching&nbsp;600 million trips&nbsp;or more. This is&nbsp;driven by APAC\u2019s concentration of business travel activity and Europe\u2019s strong regional connectivity.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The&nbsp;estimated&nbsp;1.3%&nbsp;global&nbsp;increase&nbsp;in 2026&nbsp;to 1.84 billion trips&nbsp;\u2500&nbsp;roughly 25 million additional business trips \u2500 contrasts with the&nbsp;anticipated&nbsp;7.2% rise in spending&nbsp;this year, underscoring the&nbsp;dampening effect&nbsp;of higher transportation and travel costs&nbsp;on&nbsp;business&nbsp;travel demand.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Forces Reshaping&nbsp;Global&nbsp;Business Travel<\/strong>&nbsp;<br><br>The forecast&nbsp;identifies&nbsp;four forces&nbsp;shaping the&nbsp;outlook for 2026:&nbsp;resilient&nbsp;economic growth, strong business investment, heightened geopolitical&nbsp;uncertainty&nbsp;and elevated transportation costs.&nbsp;There are also some key assumptions:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The&nbsp;conflict&nbsp;involving Iran and the broader Middle East in early 2026 disrupted aviation,&nbsp;trade&nbsp;and energy markets, driving longer travel times, different long-haul connection points,&nbsp;and higher airfares. The forecast assumes conditions&nbsp;will&nbsp;stabilize&nbsp;and airline networks gradually normalize&nbsp;in the second half of the year.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The forecast assumes global&nbsp;gross domestic product (GDP)&nbsp;growth slows from about 3.3% in 2025 to 2.9% in 2026, with downside risks centered on renewed geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions,&nbsp;and\/or a sharper-than-expected slowdown in business investment.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Regional&nbsp;Growth&nbsp;Varies and&nbsp;Pressure&nbsp;Points Emerge in 2026<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Business travel volume in the Middle East is forecast to decline&nbsp;12.3% in 2026 as regional conflict weighs on activity, while Asia and Europe face&nbsp;increasing&nbsp;pressure from disruptions to air travel and energy markets.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In contrast, the Americas are&nbsp;benefiting&nbsp;from stronger economic growth, with&nbsp;artificial intelligence (AI)&nbsp;and technology investment boosting the U.S. outlook, higher energy prices supporting Brazil, and greater stability in Argentina helping drive growth across Latin America.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AI and technology-related investment is&nbsp;emerging&nbsp;as a significant driver of business travel growth, particularly in North America and Asia Pacific. Investments&nbsp;such as&nbsp;digital infrastructure, data&nbsp;centers&nbsp;and enterprise technology deployment are fueling demand for project-based travel, customer&nbsp;engagement&nbsp;and cross-border collaboration.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The top 15 markets of&nbsp;the&nbsp;forecasted&nbsp;$1.71&nbsp;trillion&nbsp;global&nbsp;spending&nbsp;for 2026&nbsp;account for $1.43&nbsp;trillion, or 84%.&nbsp;The two largest, the U.S. ($423.0 billion) and China ($403.7 billion), together represent about&nbsp;48% of total&nbsp;global&nbsp;spend.&nbsp;In terms of growth&nbsp;among the top 15 markets,&nbsp;Brazil (13.8%), Australia (11.5%), South Korea (11.3%),&nbsp;T\u00fcrkiye&nbsp;(10.9%)&nbsp;and Japan (10%)&nbsp;rank among the fastest&nbsp;rising.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Among sectors, the fastest business travel&nbsp;spending growth through 2030 is expected in Mining and Quarrying (6.6%&nbsp;CAGR), Human Health and Social Work (6.3%), and Education (6.3%).&nbsp;However, these industries collectively represent&nbsp;only 1.6% of&nbsp;total&nbsp;2026&nbsp;business travel spend.&nbsp;While their high&nbsp;growth may create some new opportunities&nbsp;for business travel suppliers, it&nbsp;is not expected to&nbsp;meaningfully&nbsp;impact&nbsp;overall global business travel spend.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Conversely,&nbsp;while&nbsp;Utilities (4.1%&nbsp;CAGR through 2030) and Manufacturing (4.4%) are expected to have slower&nbsp;business travel spending growth, they collectively&nbsp;represent&nbsp;42% of business travel spend&nbsp;today&nbsp;and&nbsp;will continue to have an outsized impact on overall&nbsp;spend&nbsp;through 2030.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Global&nbsp;Business Travelers Are Adapting to a Changing Travel Landscape<\/strong>&nbsp;<br><br>In May 2026,&nbsp;4,700 business travelers&nbsp;were surveyed&nbsp;across 66 global markets&nbsp;for the BTI report. Results&nbsp;show business travel remained resilient in&nbsp;2025, and&nbsp;reveal a workforce that continues to travel regularly while adapting to higher costs, evolving travel&nbsp;programs&nbsp;and a more uncertain global environment.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nearly three-quarters&nbsp;(74%) of business travelers report traveling as much or more than in previous years, led by Asia Pacific, where&nbsp;four in five (80%)&nbsp;maintained&nbsp;or increased their travel activity.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Travelers&nbsp;remain&nbsp;cautiously optimistic:&nbsp;On average,&nbsp;28% expect to travel more in 2026 than they did in 2025,&nbsp;with&nbsp;36%&nbsp;from&nbsp;the Middle East and Africa&nbsp;indicating&nbsp;the same.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Individual travel frequency&nbsp;remains&nbsp;in a typical range, with 41% taking one or two business trips in 2025, 44% taking three to 10 trips, and 15% taking more than 10.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Air travel&nbsp;remains&nbsp;the dominant mode of transportation, with 42% of flyers saying they typically traveled in premium cabins. Rail continues&nbsp;to play&nbsp;an important role, particularly&nbsp;among business travelers&nbsp;in Asia Pacific&nbsp;(72%)&nbsp;and Europe&nbsp;(60%).&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Managed travel programs&nbsp;remain&nbsp;widespread, with 65%&nbsp;saying their&nbsp;companies require&nbsp;or encourage&nbsp;bookings through a travel management company&nbsp;(TMC)&nbsp;or corporate online booking tool.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>More than two-thirds (68%)&nbsp;are provided with a corporate credit card, and 63% say they can&nbsp;also&nbsp;collect personal benefits or features&nbsp;from&nbsp;using&nbsp;their card&nbsp;for business travel.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;Descargar el&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/research\/2026-business-travel-index-bti\/?utm_medium=pr&amp;utm_source=cision&amp;utm_campaign=product_global_research_bti_august_2026&amp;utm_content=pressrelease\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Resumen ejecutivo aqu\u00ed<\/a>&nbsp;desde el&nbsp;<em>2026 GBTA Business Travel Index<\/em>. GBTA members can&nbsp;exclusively&nbsp;access the full report on the&nbsp;GBTA&nbsp;Community+&nbsp;platform&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/community.gbta.org\/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aqu\u00ed<\/a>.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br>To learn more about GBTA Research or to inquire about GBTA BTI, visit the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/research\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GBTA webpage<\/a>&nbsp;o correo electr\u00f3nico&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:research@gbta.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">research@gbta.org<\/a>.&nbsp;<br><br><strong>Acerca de GBTA<\/strong>&nbsp;<br>The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world\u2019s premier business travel and meetings trade organization serving stakeholders across six continents. GBTA and its 9,000+ members&nbsp;represent&nbsp;and advocate for the $1.71 trillion global business travel and meetings industry. 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. For more information, visit GBTA.org and GBTAFoundation.org.&nbsp;<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GBTA\u2019s&nbsp;latest Business Travel Index report&nbsp;shows&nbsp;spending gains driven by higher prices as geopolitical&nbsp;uncertainty&nbsp;and transportation pressures weigh on the outlook Global business travel spending is forecast to reach a record\u00a0$1.71 trillion USD in 2026,\u00a0with\u00a0the number of business trips worldwide\u00a0expected to\u00a0surpass 1.84 billion. The\u00a0forecast\u00a0highlights\u00a0how rising transportation and travel costs are increasingly driving\u00a0higher\u00a0industry\u00a0prices,\u00a0ahead\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0number\u00a0of trips.\u00a0 This is according to the\u00a02026\u00a0GBTA&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"2389,1632,2231,1705,2384,2459","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[45,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-press-releases","category-research-and-travel-trends"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Debbie Iannaci","author_link":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/author\/diannacigbta-org\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":45,"name":"News and Press Releases","slug":"news-and-press-releases","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":45,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":561,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":45,"category_count":561,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News and Press Releases","category_nicename":"news-and-press-releases","category_parent":0},{"term_id":37,"name":"Research and Travel Trends","slug":"research-and-travel-trends","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":37,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":980,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":37,"category_count":980,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Research and Travel Trends","category_nicename":"research-and-travel-trends","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":45,"label":"News and Press Releases"},{"value":37,"label":"Research and Travel Trends"}]},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"mfb_rest_fields":["featured_image_src_large","author_info","comment_info","category_info","tag_info","taxonomy_info","featured_image_src","featured_image_src_square"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34540"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34623,"href":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34540\/revisions\/34623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbta.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}