Make room for Mexico on your list of meeting destinations to consider. According to the Global Business Travel Association Foundation’s annual report released earlier this summer, Mexico is among the emerging markets along with Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Poland and Turkey.
The GBTA data reveals that the aforementioned countries accounted for $62 billion total market opportunity in 2014 and that number is predicted to climb to $93 billion by 2019.
To help suppliers and buyers look into the future, the GBTA report has identified shifts in global business travel. Sponsored by Visa, Inc., the GBTA report reflects results from an exhaustive study of business travel spending and growth covering 75 countries across 48 industries.
“The global business travel market is incredibly dynamic, with dozens of countries around the world such as China, India and Mexico, growing at remarkable rate,” said Brian Triplett, SVP, head of commercial product for Visa Inc. “As these markets develop, safe and secure electronic payments will help corporations and business travelers around the globe track and manage their business travel spend.”
The report divided global business travel countries in four segments:
The Stalwarts
This category of countries represent the major players and accounted for $629 billion in total market opportunity. The 2019 estimate puts that figure at $783 billion.
The countries in this segment are United States, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Spain, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Japan and South Korea.
BRIC Markets
BRIC stands for Brazil, Russia, India and China. The GBTA report has 2014 total market opportunity at $340 billion. Growth will help this total jump to $528 billion in 2019.
India is definitely making some noise. It had $26 billion in business travel spending in 2014 and could top $45 billion by 2019. The report predicts that India will crack the top five in 15 years.
Newly Emerging
See above for further information. The countries are Mexico, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Poland and Turkey.
Midsize Matures
For 2014, this segment accounted for $66 billion in total market opportunity and will climb to an estimated $86 billion in 2019. Note that this figure is less than the 2019 estimate for newly emerging countries.
