Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Executive Director and COO Mike McCormick published a blog post on Friday, May 19, detailing new GBTA research that projects a major loss in U.S. business travel spending.
Using first quarter ticketing data from the Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC), publicly available travel data and GBTA’s economic research and models, McCormick said the association developed an “uncertainty forecast” for 2017 showing the impact that mounting geopolitical uncertainty in the U.S. is having on the economy.
Below is an excerpt from McCormick’s blog post.
“GBTA projects a loss of over $1.3 billion in overall travel-related expenditures in the United States in 2017 including hotels, food, rental cars and shopping expenses that inbound travelers would have spent.
“That includes $250 million lost in spending from inbound business travelers from Europe and the Middle East. The even greater concern is that the longer-term impact on business travel will become even larger.
“In an earlier survey of GBTA’s European members, 45 percent indicated their company will be less willing to plan future meetings and events in the United States due to executive orders on travel.”
According to the GBTA’s findings, the U.S. GDP will take a nearly $300 million hit. More than 4,200 jobs could be lost along with $175 million in wages and $70 million in tax collections. Europe is forecast to lose over $250 million in air fare spending and the Middle East will lose over $80 million in air fare.
“As we await the verdict on a possible expansion of the electronics ban, we have yet another uncertainty factor,” McCormick added in his analysis. “While it is certainly different from the travel ban executive orders, and there is no doubt that the electronics ban is based on a clear security threat, it is the cumulative impact of anti-travel policies that leave the perception to many that the United States is closed for business.
"It goes without saying that GBTA strongly supports all efforts keep our skies safe, but we encourage TSA to pursue alternative options to effectively reduce the risk of terrorism.”
More information and commentary from McCormick is available on the GBTA blog.
