Travel expenditure is expected to rise worldwide by 21 per cent this year, due to the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, but will not rebound until the middle of the decade to the pre-pandemic stage. This was revealed by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) in its new survey.

Business travel expenditure is expected to increase to 842 billion USD by 2021 after falling by 52 percent to USD 694 billion in 2020 because of the pandemic, according to the GBTA BTI Outlook.

Business travel is projected to show, after a decade of steady annual growth, losses 10 times higher than after the September 11, 2001, attacks and recessions of 2008 in 2020, GBTA said.

Uncertainty about progress in vaccinations and US President Joe Biden's policies may affect the recovery, despite the expected growth for travel in 2021.

“The continued rollout of the vaccine will be central to recovery globally, as will decisions the new Biden Administration makes regarding global trade and border and quarantine policies,” said Dave Hilfman, GBTA’s interim executive director.

The US airlines also expect the Group to spend more on travels which cannot be duplicated through online meetings, such as sales calls and trips. In contrast to 2019, the group has said, the proportion of travel companies spending on internal meetings is expected to decrease by 6 percent.

By the end of 2024 it is planned to cost roughly USD 1.4 trillion for business travel, almost equivalent to USD 1.43 trillion in sales pre-pandemic in 2019, the group said. In 2025, it expects a complete recovery. 

The group says that main Asia Pacific emerging economies will fuel global business travel growth in the next decade.