Half of travel managers in APAC expect more business travelers in 2018

Some are worried over the negative effects of geopolitical events on the economy.

The Asia Pacific region can expect more arrivals from business travelers in 2018, results from the latest International Travel Management Study (ITMS) suggested.

According to the study, 35% of travel managers predict increase in business travel trips in 2018, whilst 8% said that trips may decrease. The last time there was as much as a 35% increase expected globally was in 2015.

In Asia Pacific, 53% of travel managers expect more business travelers arriving, whilst only 27% believed that business trips will increase in Europe.

Meanwhile, only 20% of travel managers believed that global economic trends had negative economic effects for business travels, the ITMS noted.

However, fairly recent political and economic events in the UK, Turkey, and the US such as Brexit, Erdogan, and Trump may have impacted feedback from travel managers in these countries as they reported an increase in negative economic effects compared to previous years, the report further discussed.