Business travel is growing, but at tepid pace

Unemployment, economic turmoil in Europe and slower growth in China and the Far East are expected to curb business travel growth in the United States.

Those are the major findings of a report released on Tuesday by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)—a trade group for corporate travel managers and suppliers—which projected business travel spending in the U.S. through the end of the year and 2013.

“With disappointing job gains and the upcoming presidential election on the horizon, businesses appear to be taking a cautious approach to their investment in travel until there is greater economic certainty,” the quarterly report said. They noted that while the total U.S. business travel spending—which includes both domestic and international outbound travel—is expected to grow for the remaining months of 2012 and 2013, the uptick is largely being driven by rising travel costs, not more trips.