GBTA APAC Conference 2023 ventures into Singapore

The GBTA APAC Conference 2023 was launched in Singapore at Shangri-La Singapore from 19-20 September 2023, showcasing the strong return of business travel to the region. Delegates from 17 countries comprising over 400 delegates and 120 buyers were present. Peter Koh, chair, GBTA APAC Advisory Board, along with Mark Cuschieri, president, GBTA board of directors, opened the ceremony after a colourful lion dance performance. The event was run concurrently with Worldwide ERC Global Mobility Summit.

Cuschieri announced the launch of the new GBTA Global Equity Program and called for sponsors to support this initiative that will attract and empower new and diverse voices from the global business travel industry. These voices will include qualifying travel professionals in the OECD low to upper-middle income countries and offer them one-year, free GBTA membership with tailored programme benefits. With the kickoff for sponsorships, the association is preparing for applicants, and in 2024, application details will be available and the process will open for APAC travel planners, before rolling this out to other regions.

Besides a slew of networking sessions, roundtables and speaker sessions, the event also saw the announcement of a new award for the association, The Business Travel Service Award 2023 which went to Carl Jones, VP and head of Strategy for Asia Pacific, SAP Concur.

Singapore Tourism Board’s executive director, Exhibitions & Conferences, Poh Chi Chuan, was the guest speaker at the opening ceremony, and was pleased to announce that Singapore achieved, as of August 2023, 9 million visitors for the year. Tourism is expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels by early next year.

Suzanne Neufang, CEO, GBTA, presented the 15th GBTA Business Travel Index Outlook, an annual study of business travel spending and growth in 72 countries, 44 industries and 4,700 business travellers across five global regions.

Some highlights of the Index Outlook:

· Dynamic changes and workforce transformation are influencing business travel, with increased focus on sustainability, where sustainably managed business travel is a force for good, where it drives progress for businesses, governments, economies and people.

· Major changes also include advances in tech and automation.

· In 2022, spending rose 47% to US$1.03 trillion and in 2023, strong gains continue and 32% growth in global expenditure is expected.

· In 2024, business travel spending will return to pre-pandemic level of US$1.4 trillion, faster than earlier projected. In 2027, spending forecast will grow to nearly US$1.8 trillion.

· The drivers of stabilisation - return to in-person meetings and events, and some international business travel.

· The most resilient industry sectors are construction, education, professional, scientific and technical.

· The least resilient industry sectors are wholesale trade, retail trade, information and communication.

· The potential impact of longer-term factors includes the widespread adoption of virtual meeting technologies, growth in remote work, rise of new forms of blended travel, and increased focus on sustainability.

· In 2024, average air ticket price is forecast to be US$780, up from US$766 in the 2023 forecast.

· Hotel average daily rate will be US$174, up from US$168 over the same period.

· Meetings and events – average attendee cost per day will be US$174, up from US$169 over the same period.

· In 2019, US$1 was spent on business travel for US$177 of sales; in 2022, this figure was US$198 (during COVID-19); in 2023, it was US$153, highlighting the importance of tracking business travel and its effectiveness.

· 62% blend business travel and personal travel more than they did in 2019; 42% add leisure days; 79% stay at the same accommodation for business and leisure.

· Significant rebound is expected in APAC – 41% gain to US$567 billion in 2023. The region is back to 92% of 2019 business spend of US$616 billion.