“Business travel drives economic growth” – GTMC
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Business travel is driving the economic growth with a correlation between the amount of air tickets booked and the UK GDP, according to the Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC) has said.
The association’s second quarter review looking at April to June 2013 tracked air transaction sales against the economic climate and found that as well as reflecting a slight rise in GDP, bookings also moved up alongside business confidence and investment.
Trajectories show the trends are likely to continue for the next quarter, with business travel also fluctuating with the FTSE.
Air transactions during Q2 were up 5.3% while there were also more bookings for rail travel. GTMC make up at least 80% of the business travel booked in the UK.
“GTMC members believe that business travel is not a cost to business but a necessary investment to drive economic growth and prosperity in the UK. Our latest Quarterly Review clearly shows the relationship between business travel and UK economic indicators,” said Paul Wait, chief executive of the GTMC.
The report also tracked travel in start-up companies and indicated entrepreneurs use travel frequently during the launch process of businesses, therefore driving the development and eventually UK business.
“It is often said that it is entrepreneurs who restart a stalled economy – there is this compelling idea that people who have been laid off use their redundancy payment to set up a fledgling business, unhindered by the legacy problems that have dragged down their former employers,” Wait added.
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