GBTA Forecasts Significant Business Travel Growth in India

Patrick Clarke
by Patrick Clarke
Last updated: 11:30 AM ET, Mon April 27, 2015

Image courtesy of Thinkstock

Business travel is growing at a rapid rate in India, according to the Global Business Travel Association's (GBTA) latest BTI outlook.

The report is released semi-annually and reveals projections based on economic status and a variety of other factors.

The GBTA's updated forecast calls for spending on business travel in India to grow by 9.8 percent this year and another 10.9 percent in 2016. If the projection comes to fruition, 2016 would signal the first year of double-digit spending growth since 2011.

Domestically, the updated BTI outlook predicts business travel spending to increase 10.1 percent in 2015 and 11.3 percent next year.

"India is poised for economic harmony as the region is strongly growing in the short-term and is also in an excellent position for the long-term," said GBTA executive director and COO Michael McCormick in a statement. McCormick went on to claim, "if India continues on its current growth path, it will be a world leader in business travel for decades to come."

In a statement, Visa's group country manager for India and South Asia TR Ramachandran credited the increased demand for business travel in India to "the combination of an aspirational middle class, positive government reforms and strong economic sentiment."

India has announced a new tourism policy set to launch next month that will focus on tourism infrastructure among other related issues.

"The shift towards electronic payments is making it easier for companies to track travel expenditure and more convenient for employees to manage their spending when abroad and reconcile their expenses on return," added Ramachandran.

While business travel spending is expected to surge over the next two years, the latest GBTA BTI outlook predicts international outbound spending to grow 7.9 percent in 2015 and just 7.3 percent in 2016.

However keep in mind that the aforementioned figures could change when the GBTA releases an updated forecast later this year.


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Patrick Clarke

Patrick Clarke

Senior Editor

A Maryland native and wanderer who has lived across the U.S. from North Carolina to SoCal, Patrick Clarke graduated from Towson University with a B.S. in journalism. He previously worked for Bleacher

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