Europe-Originating Business Travel to Reach €404 Billion in 2026

Europe-originating business travel spending is forecast to hit €404.0 billion ($453.9 billion) in 2026, up 7.0% year over year, as European-based organizations generate about 600 million trips. Trip volume is projected to rise only 0.7%, so spending growth runs 10 times faster and signals higher costs per trip.

GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang said: “Europe’s business travel sector continues to show remarkable strength and staying power.” The forecast points to a market where spending, rather than traveler count, carries the growth.

Europe accounts for 27% of global business travel spending, level with North America. Global spending should reach €1.52 trillion ($1.71 trillion), up 7.2%, while 1.84 billion trips rise 1.3%. Europe’s 600 million trips represent 33% of the global total, ahead of North America’s 492 million.

What does this change for corporate travel programs?

It shifts the operating problem from adding travelers to earning more per trip. Hotels, airlines, rail providers and meeting venues cannot expect volume alone to deliver 7%; they would need higher spend per traveler or a better trip mix, although GBTA does not break the forecast down by sector.

The figures do not identify whether hotel rates, airfares or another input drove the increase, so they cannot support category pricing forecasts. For corporate travel managers, the practical consequence is tighter scrutiny of trip value: GBTA says companies increasingly focus on ensuring every trip delivers value.

For hospitality operators, city data signal resilient traveler demand, but disclose no restaurant sales, food cost, labor percentage or margins. Those remain local decisions, not conclusions from this study.

Where demand is concentrated

Western Europe is forecast to generate €354.9 billion ($398.7 billion), up 6.5%. “Emerging Europe,” GBTA’s classification for Central and Eastern Europe, contributes €49.1 billion ($55.2 billion) and grows 10.8%, the faster regional rate.

• Germany: €79.9 billion ($89.7 billion), 19.8% of Europe.
• United Kingdom: £50.0 billion ($66.7 billion), 14.7%.
• France: €45.0 billion ($50.6 billion), 11.1%.
• Italy: €39.5 billion ($44.4 billion), 9.8%.
• Spain: €26.5 billion ($29.8 billion), 6.6%.

Together, these five origin markets account for approximately 62% of Europe’s forecast 2026 spending. Germany alone supplies nearly one euro in every five.

How travelers are moving and paying

GBTA’s European findings show stable intent: 74% expect overall travel in 2026 to be as frequent as or more frequent than in 2025. In 2025, 53% took one or two trips of at least 80 kilometers, while 36% took three to 10.

Client, sales and account-management meetings led the reasons for travel, followed by training, project work, and conferences or conventions. In 2025, 37% of trips were international and 63% domestic; 57% included an overnight stay, compared with 43% same-day trips. Overnight trips averaged 3.6 nights.

Transportation use overlapped: 43% of European travelers used a car, 34% flew and 25% took rail during 2025 trips. Among those who flew, economy was the most common cabin at 31%. On their last business trip, 58% used a full-service or legacy airline.

More than half, 55%, expect to extend a business trip personally in 2026. For payment and administration, 43% use an expense-management system and 64% say their company provides a corporate card. Among cardholders, 61% charge at least half of travel spending to it, and 57% have added it to a mobile wallet.

Where traveler spending lands

GBTA’s newly published Global Cities Economic Impact Study covers 25 major cities in five regions. It measures 2024 spending’s direct, indirect and induced effects on output, GDP, employment, labor income and tax revenue. The featured European cities show:

City	Direct business traveler spending	Supported output	Supported GDP	Supported jobs
London	£11.2 billion ($15.0 billion)	£18.0 billion ($24.0 billion)	£4.8 billion ($6.4 billion)	98,051
Paris	€12.1 billion ($13.6 billion)	€19.7 billion ($22.1 billion)	€7.4 billion ($8.3 billion)	90,472
Amsterdam	€5.0 billion ($5.6 billion)	€7.2 billion ($8.1 billion)	€2.7 billion ($3.0 billion)	39,570
Frankfurt	€4.2 billion ($4.7 billion)	€6.2 billion ($7.0 billion)	€1.8 billion ($2.0 billion)	33,070
Madrid	€4.1 billion ($4.6 billion)	€6.1 billion ($6.8 billion)	€1.8 billion ($2.0 billion)	33,998

The release gives London’s supported output as £17.9 billion in its narrative and £18.0 billion in the table. The published difference is £0.1 billion.

Traveler spending circulates through suppliers, workers and public revenue beyond airfare, hotel rooms and meeting costs. For hospitality businesses, that signals economic impact, not a property forecast: the release provides no occupancy, average daily rate, restaurant check, food-cost or labor data.

How the research was built

GBTA shared the findings at the GBTA + VDR Europe Conference 2026 in Vienna, Austria, in partnership with ABTA. Its 2026 Global Business Travel Index, made possible by Visa, is in its 18th year, covers 72 countries and 44 industries, and adds a new travel-volume methodology. More than 4,700 travelers worldwide were surveyed in May 2026.

GBTA serves six continents and says its 9,000-plus members represent a $1.57 trillion global business travel and meetings industry. Its network spans more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts. GBTA and the GBTA Foundation provide education, events, research, advocacy and media.

GBTA expects European business travel spending to reach €425.0 billion ($477.5 billion) in 2027 and €471.0 billion ($529.1 billion) by 2030. If that forecast holds, operators must turn low trip-volume growth into higher spend and measurable trip value.