To take the temperature of business travel, AirPlus surveyed more than 3,000 Travel Managers and business travellers in 24 countries. The results of this survey, published on 2 May, are compiled as part of the International Travel Management Study (ITMS). This 13th edition is an optimistic one for the specialist in payment and reporting solutions, as reflected in the title of the report: " Business travel continues to soar in 2018 ".
More than a third (35%) of the Travel Managers surveyed expect an increase in travel bookings within their companies this year. But the situation is obviously more nuanced depending on the markets studied. For example, the Brexit is still sowing doubt in the United Kingdom : " UK travel managers are concerned about the future impact of Brexit on business travel: the percentage of optimists predicting an increase in business travel is diving from 50% to 30% while that of pessimists rises from 11% to 17% "says the ITMS report. On the other side of the Channel, the France does not appear to be the driving force behind this expected global growth. AirPlus managers point to a market " shy "for which the increase was limited to 18%, although there was an increase compared with the previous year. 2017, " a sign that morale is returning ".
To find the most dynamic business travel markets in 2018, it's best to look to Europe.India (70%), the Brazil (55%) the China (54%), but also in the United States where, we read, " morale remains high and 43% of Travel Managers still expect business travel to grow, after a record year in 2017 with 71% of upward forecasts ".
