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Why business travel is growing this year

Spending on business travel is expected to be on the rise this year.
Written by Tyler Falk, Contributor

Thanks to an improving economy and increasing business and consumer confidence, expect a boost to business travel spending this year.

A new report from Global Business Travel Association upgrades its 2013 growth projection for spending on business travel to 5.1 percent from 4.6 percent. That's good news for the travel industry since U.S. business travel spending will reach $268.5 billion a year. If it holds, the growth rate would be a substancial improvement over the 2012 growth rate of 1.8 percent.

“Business confidence is up and the need to compete in the global economy is driving companies to invest in business travel,” said Michael McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO, in a statement.  “Despite continued political uncertainty in the U.S. and around the world, businesses are beginning to break out of their holding pattern and seek growth more aggressively.  While there are still many factors that could hamper the economy again, from the impact of sequestration to rising energy prices, business travel spending is heading in the right direction so far in 2013.”

Another good sign for revived business travel spending is an index created by GBTA to measure business travel activity. So far, it's projected that in 2013 the index will exceed its pre-recession peak.

Business Travel Spending Gains Momentum as Economy Improves in First Quarter [GBTA]

Photo: Flickr/lanier67

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com

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