The GBTA released the results of a survey of 1,176 European business travellers at Europe Conference in Hamburg this week. Here are some of the key findings:
- 82% reported that business travel was very or moderately worthwhile in achieving their business objectives
- 78% have taken one to five business trips in the last 12 months
- 31% booked an airfare for their last work trip through “managed” channels
- 19% extend a work trip for leisure, compared to the global average of 42%
- European business travellers take, on average, 3.51 days per business trip
- Multi-modal travel is more prominent in this region; 32% used rail on their last business trip (versus 18% globally), 36% used air (42% globally) and 29% used a personal car (31% globally)
- Business travellers in Europe spent an average of $888 per person (including both managed and unmanaged spending) on their last business trip, with lodging accounting for $366 of this expenditure. This is followed by food and beverage ($157), air ($148), ground ($122) and miscellaneous expenditures ($95)
- The average spend is less in Europe than in North America ($1,219 average spend per person) or Asia-Pacific ($1,038 average spend per person)
- Average business travel spending across the region is relatively consistent, with the exceptions of the Nordic countries, where the average per person trip cost reached $1,255, and Spain, which has a lower per person trip cost of $630.
- European business travel frequency mirrors global trends – 67% believe they will travel the same or more frequently in 2023, compared to 2019, 29% think they will travel less frequently, a finding on par with North America and the global average
- Most European business travellers have a corporate credit card, with 69% stating their employer provides them with it but just 12% using their corporate card for all travel expenses.
- 69% of those who have a corporate credit card have uploaded their card to a mobile wallet
- But although Europe has the highest adoption rate for mobile wallets of any market, European business travellers use their mobile wallets less frequently. Almost 85% of European business travellers who have uploaded their corporate card to a mobile wallet use it for at least 10% of their business transactions.
