Business travel by Spanish companies continues to grow steadily
The Gebta Observatory data confirm a sustained and stable increase in business travel, in line with what has been observed in recent years for the Spanish market as a whole, which highlights the intense commercial activity of Spanish companies that is increasing in all geographic areas.
According to the Observatory of Gebta, the association of corporate travel management companies, the business travel of Spanish companies experienced a 3.8% growth in the first four months of 2017 compared to the same period last year;olas experienced 3.8% growth in the first four months of 2017 compared to the same period of the previous year.
From January to April 2017, the demand for business travel continues to grow and increase in the práctica totality of the áficas geographical areas, including the domestic market itself, which maintains levels of activity above those of the 2016 financial year. The recovery of domestic business air transport is confirmed, in the same line as already noted in 2016.
The data relating to international traffic “Ranking Top 10 destinations BT Gebta” reflect changes that are indicative of the evolution experienced by the Spanish commercial presence abroad, in terms of diversification;In terms of market diversification, of which the most noteworthy are Asia and North America and the main markets of Latin America, with growth rates of over 10%.Gebta's data show the consolidation of the Spanish company's “intercontinentality”.
The data provided by the Observatory are particularly interesting in that they reflect the broadening of the focus of Spanish companies' foreign activity in terms of markets and geographical areas: half of the airports in the ranking correspond to the American continent, when in 2013, all the airports in the Top 10 ranking were strictly European.
Gebta confirms that over the last four years, this trend, the turning point of which was already identified in its 2013 Observatory, has been underpinned. The analysis of the destination airports with the highest percentage growth during the period under analysis follows the same pattern, with an outstanding presence of the Latin American market and a strong presence of destinations in China. On the other hand, where the greatest relative growth of the “business destination” is seen in Q1 2017 are the airports of Buenos Aires, Boston, New York, Doha and París.
CONTROL OF SPENDING
From the ásphere of investment management, control of spending is maintained, which remains below the growth in travel volume, but is slightly up on the previous year, as a result of the greater presence of long-haul destinations.
Travel is once again confirmed as a lever for the development of foreign business and the diversification of markets, at a time when exports are once again at an all-time high;The company's exports to the United Kingdom, whose exports in the quarter were boosted by 21% as a result of the collapse of the pound, were the best performer in the EU.
The indicators on corporate traffic once again highlight the latent demand from Spanish companies, as the number of business trips grows and companies take advantage of new routes and increases in airline capacity.
In view of the positive evolution of Spanish companies' travel investment patterns, Gebta recommends maintaining spending management policies as they are currently in place.
According to the organization's own calculations, in order to guarantee the current levels of growth and development of new business beyond our borders, Spanish companies will make an overall investment of more than US$1.5 billion;n en su conjunto, una inversiónón mín mínima agregada en viajes al exterior durante el 2017, situada entre los 115 y los 125 millones de euros adicionales, siempre y cuando el contexto de negocio no se vea afectado por acontecimientos extraordinarios.