China Set to Pass US in Business Travel by 2015
Taking Off: China is less than three years away from becoming the world's top business travel market.
China will become the world’s top business travel market by 2015 due to a growth rate that puts it on track to pass current leader the United States by no later than 2015, according to a study by the Global Business Travel Association.
China’s business travel is projected to grow 17% to $202 billion in 2012 and another 21% to $245 billion in 2013. By comparison the US spent $250 billion on business travel in 2011. Even assuming that US business travel keeps growing at its current pace, it will slip behind China within three years.
“China’s phenomenal economic growth over the last decade has been mirrored in business travel, which is now a key contributor to, and benefactor from, the country’s explanation,” said Mike McCormick, the Association’s CEO.
Due to China’s projected growth rate of 8-9% over the coming two years, at least two-thirds of the growth in its corporate travel market will reflect actual increases in the total number of business trips rather than rising travel prices, McCormick noted. The growth will be driven by increases in meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibition business trips.
China is well aware of the need to expand its travel infrastructure, and has been furiously adding airport and hotel capacity during the past decade. It expects to double the capacity of its four latest airports in Beijing, Shanghai-Pudong, Shanghai Hongqiao and Guangzhou over the next decade and will add 100 new airports across the nation. Much of its business travel load will also be handled by the high-speed train routes being added across China.
China’s total domestic travel will soar to 3.3 billion trips annually by 2015, powering a 5-8% annual growth in the hotel market through 2030, said InterContinental Hotels Group, the parent company of hotel chain Holiday Inn. The group plans to operate hotels in at least 100 Chinese cities over the next 15 to 20 years.
Japan ranked a distant third in business travel, spending just $65 billion last year. The United Kingdom ranked fourth at $38 billion.
Beijing Capital Airport will be one of four airports in China to double capacity over the next decade as the nation prepares to become the world's leading business travel market.