Business travel spending should continue to climb through 2013, driven in large part by growth in domestic travel spending. This is a notable shift from prior years when companies had to look abroad for business opportunities in the face of a sagging U.S. economy. Now, signs of a healthier domestic economy, including steady job gains and higher consumer confidence, are encouraging companies to increase their investment in domestic travel. The full report is available for purchase for non-members and at no cost for GBTA members. To learn more about the Global Business Travel Association please visit www.gbta.org.

1. 2013 Q1
GBTA BTI™ Outlook – United States
Prospects for Domestic & International Outbound Business Travel 2013-2014
2012 Q2
2013 Q2

2. 1515
GBTA BTI™ OUTLOOK – UNITED STATES e2013 Q2
© June 2013 GBTA and its affiliates. All rights reserved. Members may copy this publication in its entirety for
internal company use.
Group Meeting & Convention vs. Transient Business Travel
Our final 2012 revision led to higher totals for transient business travel – both person‐trips and spending. In 2012,
there were a total of 282 million person‐trips taken for transient business travel. A total of $119 billion USD was
spent on transient travel in 2012. This represents annual growth of 3.2% and 6.2%, respectively. This fairly
robust level of growth has been challenged in early 2013, however, as the expansion in corporate profits has
slowed.
We expect that firms will continue to tighten their transient business travel budgets over the next few quarters.
Our outlook for 2013 projects a ‐0.4% decline in Person‐Trip volume to 453 million trips and 3.8% growth in
transient spending to $273 billion USD. By 2014, however, we expect another healthy uptick in corporate profits
(and other economic drivers) and,
consequently, both trips and
spending will experience
substantial growth. In 2014, we
expect total transient volume to
hit 130 million person‐trips and
total transient spending to hit
$284 billion USD, representing
1.1% and 5.2% growth,
respectively.
Group business travel metrics
were also revised upward for
2012. Our final figures for 2012
show that group volume rose
0.5% to 166 million person‐trips
and group spending rose 3.3% to
$111 billion USD. Growth in
spend‐per‐trip among group travelers, however, slowed as firms ratcheted down meeting budgets.
Group business travel will continue to face headwinds through 2013 as trends that have emerged in the MICE
industry, such as lower meeting budgets and more local meetings, will persist. Moreover, government meetings
have been severely cut back in the wake of sequestration and the “IRS effect”. We expect total group volume to fall
‐0.3% in 2013 to 166 million Person‐Trips. Spending among group travel delegates will grow 5.3% to $117 billion
USD in 2013. We are projecting slightly more growth in group meeting activity in 2014 when volume will grow
1.8% and spending another 6.8%.
International Outbound
Business Travel
The quarterly growth in international
outbound business travel volume bounced
back slightly in 2013 Q1 after experiencing
its worst drop since 2009 Q4 the previous
quarter. We expect continued weakness in
the global economy will further temper IOB
in 2013 – volume will advance 0.9% and
spending will grow 3.0%. We expect a
significant turning point in international
outbound business travel in 2014 as the
global economy gets back on its feet and

3. 1414
GBTA BTI™ OUTLOOK – UNITED STATES e2013 Q2
© June 2013 GBTA and its affiliates. All rights reserved. Members may copy this publication in its entirety for
internal company use.
 2013 Q1 GBTA BTI™ came in at 123; this is somewhat higher than last quarter’s forecast of 121 (GBTA
BTI™ Outlook – United States, January 2013), mainly due to the upward revision of 2012 data. This value
represents a two‐point gain over the previous quarter and a three‐point gain over 2012 Q1.
 The GBTA BTI™ has performed poorly over the last number of quarters, growing only 3 points since
2012 Q1. Tepid growth both domestically and abroad has continued to challenge the health of the business
travel sector.
 We continue to believe the GBTA BTI will experience significantly better growth over the next seven
quarters. While economic headwinds in 2013 will weigh on both domestic and international business travel,
price growth will help boost GBTA BTI™ over the next couple quarters. In 2014, we expect real spending
growth to impact the GBTA BTI™ as travel price inflation stabilizes and both domestic and international trip
volumes increase.
Business Travel Quarterly Outlook Details
Total U.S.-Originated Business Travel Spending & Trip Volumes3
The levels of our 2013 Q2 Outlook are significantly higher than our expectations from last quarter’s Outlook
(Business Travel Quarterly Outlook – United States, April 2013), almost entirely due to the revision in our primary
data source for domestic travel (volume and spend). Total business travel volume in 2012 was revised from 437
million annual person‐trips to 454 million annual person‐trips, nearly a 4% increase. Total spending on business
travel in 2012 was revised from $256 billion USD to $262 billion USD, up over 2%. This represents a growth
revision to 2.2% in trip volume in 2012 (up from ‐1.8% decline reported in last quarter’s forecast) and 4.4% in
business travel spending (up from 1.8% growth reported in last quarter’s forecast).
It should be noted, however, that these adjustments have done very little to alter the growth pattern in our
forecasts for person‐trip volume or spending. We expect total person‐trip volume to fall slightly to 453 million
trips (‐0.4%) in 2013 before rising 1.5% to 459 million trips in 2014. This compares with ‐1.1% and 1.8% growth
for 2013 and 2014, respectively, projected last quarter. Total spending on U.S.‐initiated business travel is expected
to rise 4.3% in 2013 and another 6.9% in 2014.
3 Includes all U.S. domestic business travel plus outbound international trips