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Aries Residence Suites recently released an infographic that details business travel in 2015.
According to the infographic (see below), which draws on various sources, Americans will take more than 490 million business trips by the end of 2015. Business trips will account for 16 percent of long-distance travel by Americans, while contributing $310 billion to the national gross domestic product (GDP).
As for what the typical trip of this type looks like in 2015, the average American business trip will cost $1,000, per the infographic. Nearly three-fourths of business trips (74 percent) require travel of 250 miles or less. Only about 7 percent of business trips are 1,000 miles.
But who makes up the business traveling community?
According to the infographic, 77 percent of business travelers are men, with most working in the technology or managerial departments. Business travelers tend to have above average income.
The typical reason for business travel is for meetings, which can help build trust, bring people closer together and ultimately increase sales. But there are other reasons for business travel. Conventions are also regularly attended, while there is always need for construction (crews assigned to specialized projects tend to travel far from home) and on-site support (technicians and similar specialists).
Of course, the ultimate question is: Is business travel worth it?
According to the infographic, it not only appears worth it, but it also appears vital to a business. For every $1 spent on business travel, companies acquire $12.50 in incremental revenue on average. Executive and business travelers estimated that 28 percent of current business would be lost without in-person meetings. The average business could forfeit 17 percent of its profits in the first year without business travel, needing three years to recover from the hit. And executives estimate that roughly 40 percent of their prospects become customers via in-person meetings, while the conversion rate is only 16 percent without such meetings.
Business travel, according to the infographic, currently supports 3.7 million jobs and generates $35 billion in taxes in the United States.
As for business travel in 2016, it's expected that there will be more than 502 million business trips made in the next year just by Americans - a 3 percent increase.
That's an average of 1.4 million business trips per day.
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