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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…

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…

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…

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How Extended Stay Accommodations Fit Into Travel Policies and What That Means for Duty of Care

Last week GBTA released a study, in partnership with WWStay, which revealed that nearly half (48 percent) of all U.S. business travelers have used an extended stay accommodation in the past 12 months when traveling internationally for business. An intriguing finding from the study showed that 60 percent of business travelers who use extended stay…

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Millennials Most Frequently Use Extended Stay Accommodations for International Travel

The GBTA Foundation released a study yesterday in partnership with WWStay, revealing that Millennials (18-34) use extended stay accommodations more than any other group. In the past year, 72 percent of Millennials stayed at one for international business travel. In comparison, only 48 percent of Gen Xers (35-54) and an even smaller 26 percent of Baby…

U.S. Business Travel Spend Growth Slows in 2015

U.S. Business Travel Spend Growth Slows in 2015

Today, GBTA released our third quarter outlook for U.S. business travel, and it clearly shows the effects caused by an uncertain global economic environment. U.S. business travel spending will increase by 3.1 percent in 2015 and 3.7 percent in 2016. While this is still positive growth, it is down from our July projections of increased…

Travel Buyer Satisfaction with Compensation Packages on the Rise

Travel Buyer Satisfaction with Compensation Packages on the Rise

Last week, GBTA released its annual Compensation and Benefits study. If you haven’t already seen my post on average incomes for travel buyers increasing 5 percent over 2014, read it here. Last year travel buyers were noticeably more satisfied with their compensation after a four-year plateau. The trend continues this year as three quarters of…