- Business Travel Set To Return To Stable Growth In 2014 As Trade Levels Recover -

LONDON, April 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Business Travel Association ("GBTA"), the world's premier business travel and corporate meetings organization, has released its latest GBTA BTI™ Outlook report on Western Europe as part of its semi-annual series.

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Key highlights of the report, which is sponsored by Visa, include:

• Business travel spending will grow throughout 2013, across most of developed Europe, with overall business travel spending being fuelled by domestic business travel spending growth
• Germany will record Europe's highest business travel spending growth rate at 5% in 2013
• The UK will also record business travel spending growth in 2013, of 1.9%
• Positive recoveries in business travel spending levels in Spain and Italy will remain elusive, with both set to experience further declines in 2013 of -6.2% and -2.9% respectively
• France's exposure to the economies of Southern Europe will cause a fall in its business travel spending of -1.4% in 2013
• In 2014, GBTA forecasts a return to a stable environment for business travel in Western Europe, with the five most critical business travel markets Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain returning to growth
• Growth in 2014 will be underpinned by more international outbound travel as trade levels recover, unlike 2013 which is more domestically focused

Catherine McGavock, Regional Director for Europe for GBTA, said:

"In the context of the struggling European economy our expectations for business travel spending in Western Europe are relatively positive for 2013. There are signs of recovery in Germany and the UK, with both expected to experience growth in business travel spending this year. We believe that this is the beginning of a wider trend in the region and expect growth in business travel spending to accelerate in 2014 to the levels we saw before the Eurozone crisis." 

"The results show that businesses throughout Europe are forecast to spend more on travel in 2013, starting a recovery that is projected to continue into 2014," said Tad Fordyce, head of Global Commercial Solutions, Visa Inc. "Travel is a key driver of economic growth. The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that the travel industry contributed nine percent of global GDP and more than $6 trillion in 2012. As more businesses around the world return to travel for work, it will only bode well for helping to improve that global economic outlook."

SOURCE Global Business Travel Association