According to available figures, business travel is improving in Europe albeit slowly.
According to the data, there have been modest increases in business travel for 2013 into 2014 across most of Western Europe, especially in Germany and the UK. The increase in business travel in most European nations, if not all, suggests that the economies in these nations are recovering and doing better than in the crisis periods.
Catherine McGavock, regional director-Europe for the Global Business Travel Association, said, ‘This has been a very difficult period for Europe. We are talking about modest growth, not a recovery that surges off the charts. The key thing to remember is that this is a very modest improvement and given the precarious nature of the situation things can change very quickly. There are signs of recovery in Germany and the UK, with both expected to experience growth in business travel spending this year. We believe this is the beginning of a wider trend in the region and expect growth in business travel spending to accelerate in 2014 to the levels we saw before the Eurozone crisis.’
While projections show that business travel will increase in Germany and the UK this year, a decline is expected in travel for Spain and Italy. In 2014, all five top business travel markets in Europe; Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain, are expected to show growth in travel spends. These five countries account for nearly 70 percent of the total European business travel spend, the GBTA said.
Figures also suggest that business travel spending for the five top nations in Europe could touch $184.8bn this year, up from $177.7bn in 2012.
