GBTA Poll Shows European Business Travel Remains Resilient Despite Paris Attacks and Threats to Brussels

Alexandria, VA (December 3, 2015) – Nearly three-quarters of European business travel buyers say their company’s travel within Europe will remain largely unaffected by the recent attacks on Paris and threats to Brussels, according to a poll conducted by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) in the days following the attacks.

Nearly half (47 percent) reported “no change” and another 26 percent reported their company’s travel within Europe was only “slightly reduced.” Just a tiny fraction – 1 percent – reported that they have temporarily suspended travel within Europe.

The vast majority of European business travel buyers – 79 percent – believe that it is important that travel within Europe continue as usual despite the recent terrorist activity.

“Business travel in Europe remains resilient despite these terrible attacks,” said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA Executive Director and COO. “The response has been strikingly similar on both sides of the Atlantic. The vast majority of travel buyers believe that it is important for business travel to continue as usual despite the recent terrorist activity.”

“This resiliency, however, only heightens the need for businesses, governments and the travel industry to work together to ensure a global travel system that is both safe and secure.”

This survey of European travel buyers was conducted online between November 25 and 30, 2015 with the support of GBTA’s European partner network. In total, 236 travel buyers from 12 different countries in Europe participated in the survey.

CONTACT: Colleen Gallagher, +1 703-236-1133, cgallagher@gbta.org
Scott Gerber, +1 202-463-0067, scott@vrge.us

Results similar to survey of U.S.-based travel buyers
This week’s results are similar to a GBTA survey of U.S.-based travel buyers conducted earlier in November. The poll of 169 U.S.-based travel buyers found that nearly three-quarters of U.S. business travel buyers said that their company’s travel to Europe would remain largely unaffected by the recent attacks on Paris. A majority (57 percent) reported “no change” and another 16 percent reported their company’s travel to Europe was only “slightly reduced.” Additionally, the vast majority of U.S. business travel buyers – 93 percent – said that they believed it is important that travel to Europe continue as usual.

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