Global travel prices are predicted to continue to increase in the remaining months of 2022 and throughout 2023, according to the 2023 Global Business Travel Forecast, published by CWT, the B2B4E travel management platform, and the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the voice of the global business travel industry.
Rising fuel prices, labour shortages, and inflationary pressures in raw material costs are the primary drivers of the expected price growth, according to the report, which uses anonymized data generated by CWT and GBTA, with publicly available industry information, and econometric and statistical modeling developed by the Avrio Institute.
Business travellers are expected to see air fares rise by 8.4 per cent, hotel rates by 8.2 per cent, and car rental charges by 6.8 per cent in 2023. This is on top of a predicted full year 2022 increase in air fares of 48.5 per cent, hotel rates of 18.5 per cent, and car rental charges of 7.3 per cent.
“Demand for business travel and meetings is back with a vengeance, of that there is absolutely no doubt,” said Patrick Andersen, CWT’s chief executive officer. “Labour shortages across the travel and hospitality industry, rising raw material prices, and greater awareness for responsible travel are all having an impact on services, but predicted pricing is, on the whole, on par with 2019.”
Cautionary notes also contained in the 2023 Global Business Travel Forecast highlight the three main forces exerting pressure on the economy and the business travel industry. These include Russia’s invasion of Ukraine coupled with other geopolitical uncertainties, inflationary pressures that are pushing costs higher, and the risk of further COVID outbreaks that could restrict business travel.
“What we are seeing now are multiple factors coming into play when corporate travel buyers and procurement officers model their travel programs. This eighth joint annual forecast marries statistical travel data and trend analysis with macroeconomic influences to provide a cornerstone reference point for their corporate business travel planning ahead,” said Suzanne Neufang, chief executive officer of GBTA.
