COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – European business travel spending is projected to reach $391.1 billion USD (360.4 billion euros) in 2024, reflecting a 10.4% increase from 2023. Additionally for this year, Europe is estimated to account for 26.4% of total global business travel spending of $1.48 trillion (1.36 trillion euros).

Economic factors and global political uncertainty continue to impact the business travel sector in Europe, with Western Europe and Emerging Europe continuing to diverge. And although Europe’s business travel market has made significant strides in recovering from the pandemic, its share of the global market remains slightly below pre-COVID levels.

For European business travellers, lodging remains the largest category of business travel spending, followed by food and beverage and air travel. Additionally, multi-modal and more sustainable transport options continue to grow across the region. European business travellers are increasingly prioritising sustainability but may not always choose more sustainable travel options.

This is according to new regional analysis from the Global Business Travel Association’s 2024 Business Travel Index (BTI) Outlook report made possible by Visa. This latest data was released today at the GBTA + VDR Europe Conference 2024 in Partnership with the Nordic Business Travel Associations being held in Copenhagen.

Looking ahead at the five-year forecast, European spending is expected to grow faster than most global regions but slower than Asia Pacific and is expected to reach $517.2 billion (476.6 billion euros) by 2028. Europe is expected to account for 25.8% of anticipated global business travel spending of $2 trillion (1.84 trillion euros) in 2028.

Catherine Logan, GBTA Regional Senior Vice President, EMEA and APAC, commented: “We can see in this regional analysis that the value and demand for business travel in Europe continues to be strong. At the same time, it also shows the critical importance for accelerating efforts to build a more sustainable industry. The future prosperity of business travel relies on embedding sustainability across all aspects of the travel experience.”

Highlights from the GBTA BTI™ Outlook report for the European region:

• Emerging and Western Europe growth: Whilst Western Europe has outpaced Emerging Europe throughout the post-pandemic recovery period, this year Emerging Europe (14.7%) is expected to grow faster than Western Europe (9.8%) for the first time since the war in Ukraine began.
• Growth is expected to be more evenly distributed in Western Europe this year. As business travel growth moderates this year, Western Europe is expected to see business travel spend growth of 9.8%. Eleven of the 16 Western European countries are expected to see spending growth between 7% and 13%.

Top performing industries for growth in 2024:

• Western Europe: Real estate activities are forecasted to lead business travel growth with a projected 15.6% increase, followed by the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector at 13.6% and public administration and defence at 12.7%.
• Emerging Europe: The fastest-growing industries include construction (22.8%), financial and insurance activities (19.7%), and transportation and warehousing (19.6%).
• Laggard markets surpass pre-COVID spend: Several Western European countries that were initially slower to recover have now surpassed their pre-pandemic spending levels. In 2023, Spain, Greece, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland exceeded their 2019 business travel spend levels, marking a significant turnaround in recovery.

Insights about European business travellers:

• This year’s GBTA BTI survey of 1,112 travellers across Europe reflects a heightened awareness of environmental concerns. In the survey, 22% of European business travellers say limiting carbon emissions is their top priority on business trips and they are willing to compromise comfort for a lower carbon footprint. This is higher than the global average of 16%.
• Europe-based business travellers (42%) are also more likely than those in North America (36%) and Asia Pacific (35%) to say they “always” or “often” think about carbon emissions when deciding whether to travel for work in the first place. However, European business travellers are not necessarily more likely than travellers globally to consider emissions when making decisions when they actually do travel ─ such as choosing more sustainable options when it comes to flights (40% vs. 41%), lodging (44% vs. 46%), or meals (42% vs. 46%).
• Asked to rate the achievement of their business objectives on their last work trip, 77% of Europe-based business travellers indicated their trip was “moderately” or “very” worthwhile. This is lower than the share (81%) who assign such a rating globally as well as across other regions surveyed.
• Lodging remains the largest category of business travel spending. It is also larger in Europe – relative to other categories – than it is worldwide, accounting for $139.9 billion (128.9 billion euros), followed by food and beverage ($68.7 billion or 63.3 billion euros), air travel, ($61.7 billion or 56.9 billion euros) and ground transportation ($45.8 billion or 42.2 billion euros).
• European business trips are less likely to involve air travel, with one-third of European business travellers (34%) saying their last work trip included a flight. This is lower than the share globally (43%), and in every other region.
• Multi-modal travel, including rail and other environmentally friendly transport options, accounts for a growing share of business trips across the region. Nearly one-third of European business travellers (29%) opted for train travel on their last trip – significantly higher than the global average of 19%.
• European business travellers are in line with other regions when it comes to travel frequency. Almost one-quarter of European business travellers (23%) say they are traveling “more frequently” today than they did five years ago. Conversely, one in five (22%) say they are traveling for work less frequently now. Globally, a larger number of business travellers today are travelling for work “more frequently” (28%) than “less frequently (20%).
• On average, European business travellers estimate they stayed 2.9 nights at their destination on their last work trip. This is similar to the global average of 3.0 nights.
• Premium travel is neither more nor less common in Europe. When business travellers took a flight on their last work trip, one-quarter of Europe-based travellers (26%) flew business class. This is higher than the share in North America (21%), but lower than the share in Asia Pacific (30%) and Latin America (29%).
• When business travellers stayed at a hotel on their last trip, almost one-third of Europe-based travellers stayed at a luxury (7%) or upscale (22%) hotel. This is higher than the share in Latin America (20%) who stayed at such hotel classes, but lower than the share in North America (36%) and Asia Pacific (33%).
• A lot of European travel is ‘unmanaged’, with 45% of travellers booking airfares through a retail channel such as online travel agencies (OTAs), rather than managed corporate channels (31%). They were also more likely to use retail (41%) than managed channels (28%) when booking a hotel. Additionally, when it comes specifically to the type of retail channel used, European business travellers (27%) were more likely than their North American counterparts (17%) to use an online travel agency (OTA) when booking their last flight, while North American travellers are more likely to book directly with an airline (27% vs. 18% respectively).

Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.