Business travel taking off?
The good news: business travel should be up next year. The uncertainty: the long-term impact of alternative technologies.
“What is certain is that it will be some time before business travel returns to its peak levels of the late 1990s,” William Norman, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association of America, told a Marketing Outlook Forum in Austin, Texas.
TIA released figures that forecast overall traveler spending in 2004 would rise to $568 billion, up from $544 billion in 2003. That’s an increase of 4.4%.
However, the level of spending to reach the record set in 2000 will not be met until 2005, the TIA study said.
US residents are forecast to take more than 122 million business trips in 2004, an improvement of 4.2% from what is forecast for 2003. That will mark the first increase since 1999, the TIA study said.
Two of the hardest hit segments in the travel industry, domestic business travel and international inbound travel to the US, were forecast for declines in 2003 (3.7% less business travel and 4% less in-bound US travel). The outlook for both segments was more positive for next year and 2005, added Mr Norman.
After falling steadily for three years, international inbound arrivals to the US are forecast to increase 5% annually both next year and in 2005. That translates to more than 42 million international arrivals in 2004 and 2005.
International travel to the US reached its peak in 2000 when it reached 51 million arrivals. International travel spending is also expected to increase 5.5% in 2004 and increase nearly 8% the next year.
TIA forecasts domestic leisure travel to also grow, 3.2% in 2004, and 2% in 2005.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt