Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

Global tourism industry - statistics & facts

What are the leading global tourism destinations, digitalization of the global tourism industry, how important is sustainable tourism, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP worldwide 2019-2033

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 1950-2023

Global leisure travel spend 2019-2022

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Current statistics on this topic.

Leading global travel markets by travel and tourism contribution to GDP 2019-2022

Travel and tourism employment worldwide 2019-2033

Related topics

Recommended.

  • Hotel industry worldwide
  • Travel agency industry
  • Sustainable tourism worldwide
  • Travel and tourism in the U.S.
  • Travel and tourism in Europe

Recommended statistics

  • Basic Statistic Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP worldwide 2019-2033
  • Basic Statistic Travel and tourism: share of global GDP 2019-2033
  • Basic Statistic Leading global travel markets by travel and tourism contribution to GDP 2019-2022
  • Basic Statistic Global leisure travel spend 2019-2022
  • Premium Statistic Global business travel spending 2001-2022
  • Premium Statistic Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 1950-2023
  • Basic Statistic Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 2005-2023, by region
  • Basic Statistic Travel and tourism employment worldwide 2019-2033

Total contribution of travel and tourism to gross domestic product (GDP) worldwide in 2019 and 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2033 (in trillion U.S. dollars)

Travel and tourism: share of global GDP 2019-2033

Share of travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP worldwide in 2019 and 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2033

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in leading travel markets worldwide in 2019 and 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Leisure tourism spending worldwide from 2019 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Global business travel spending 2001-2022

Expenditure of business tourists worldwide from 2001 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide from 1950 to 2023 (in millions)

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 2005-2023, by region

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide from 2005 to 2023, by region (in millions)

Number of travel and tourism jobs worldwide from 2019 to 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2033 (in millions)

  • Premium Statistic Global hotel and resort industry market size worldwide 2013-2023
  • Premium Statistic Most valuable hotel brands worldwide 2022, by brand value
  • Basic Statistic Leading hotel companies worldwide 2022, by number of properties
  • Premium Statistic Hotel openings worldwide 2021-2024
  • Premium Statistic Hotel room openings worldwide 2021-2024
  • Premium Statistic Countries with the most hotel construction projects in the pipeline worldwide 2022

Global hotel and resort industry market size worldwide 2013-2023

Market size of the hotel and resort industry worldwide from 2013 to 2022, with a forecast for 2023 (in trillion U.S. dollars)

Most valuable hotel brands worldwide 2022, by brand value

Leading hotel brands based on brand value worldwide in 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Leading hotel companies worldwide 2022, by number of properties

Leading hotel companies worldwide as of June 2022, by number of properties

Hotel openings worldwide 2021-2024

Number of hotels opened worldwide from 2021 to 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2024

Hotel room openings worldwide 2021-2024

Number of hotel rooms opened worldwide from 2021 to 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2024

Countries with the most hotel construction projects in the pipeline worldwide 2022

Countries with the highest number of hotel construction projects in the pipeline worldwide as of Q4 2022

  • Premium Statistic Airports with the most international air passenger traffic worldwide 2022
  • Premium Statistic Market value of selected airlines worldwide 2023
  • Premium Statistic Global passenger rail users forecast 2017-2027
  • Premium Statistic Daily ridership of bus rapid transit systems worldwide by region 2023
  • Premium Statistic Number of users of car rentals worldwide 2019-2028
  • Premium Statistic Number of users in selected countries in the Car Rentals market in 2023
  • Premium Statistic Carbon footprint of international tourism transport worldwide 2005-2030, by type

Airports with the most international air passenger traffic worldwide 2022

Leading airports for international air passenger traffic in 2022 (in million international passengers)

Market value of selected airlines worldwide 2023

Market value of selected airlines worldwide as of May 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Global passenger rail users forecast 2017-2027

Worldwide number of passenger rail users from 2017 to 2022, with a forecast through 2027 (in billion users)

Daily ridership of bus rapid transit systems worldwide by region 2023

Number of daily passengers using bus rapid transit (BRT) systems as of April 2023, by region

Number of users of car rentals worldwide 2019-2028

Number of users of car rentals worldwide from 2019 to 2028 (in millions)

Number of users in selected countries in the Car Rentals market in 2023

Number of users in selected countries in the Car Rentals market in 2023 (in million)

Carbon footprint of international tourism transport worldwide 2005-2030, by type

Transport-related emissions from international tourist arrivals worldwide in 2005 and 2016, with a forecast for 2030, by mode of transport (in million metric tons of carbon dioxide)

Attractions

  • Premium Statistic Market size of museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks worldwide 2022-2027
  • Premium Statistic Leading museums by highest attendance worldwide 2019-2022
  • Basic Statistic Most visited amusement and theme parks worldwide 2019-2022
  • Basic Statistic Monuments on the UNESCO world heritage list 2023, by type
  • Basic Statistic Selected countries with the most Michelin-starred restaurants worldwide 2023

Market size of museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks worldwide 2022-2027

Size of the museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks market worldwide in 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2027 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Leading museums by highest attendance worldwide 2019-2022

Most visited museums worldwide from 2019 to 2022 (in millions)

Most visited amusement and theme parks worldwide 2019-2022

Leading amusement and theme parks worldwide from 2019 to 2022, by attendance (in millions)

Monuments on the UNESCO world heritage list 2023, by type

Number of monuments on the UNESCO world heritage list as of September 2023, by type

Selected countries with the most Michelin-starred restaurants worldwide 2023

Number of Michelin-starred restaurants in selected countries and territories worldwide as of July 2023

Online travel market

  • Premium Statistic Online travel market size worldwide 2020-2030
  • Premium Statistic Estimated revenue of leading OTAs worldwide 2022, by device
  • Premium Statistic Most downloaded online travel agency apps worldwide 2022, by aggregated downloads
  • Basic Statistic Market cap of leading online travel companies worldwide 2023
  • Premium Statistic Leading online travel companies worldwide 2020-2022, by revenue CAGR
  • Premium Statistic Leading online travel companies worldwide 2022-2023, by EV/EBITDA

Online travel market size worldwide 2020-2030

Online travel market size worldwide from 2020 to 2022, with a forecast for 2023 and 2030 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Estimated revenue of leading OTAs worldwide 2022, by device

Estimated desktop vs. mobile revenue of leading online travel agencies (OTAs) worldwide in 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Most downloaded online travel agency apps worldwide 2022, by aggregated downloads

Most downloaded online travel agency apps worldwide in 2022, by aggregated number of downloads (in millions)

Market cap of leading online travel companies worldwide 2023

Market cap of leading online travel companies worldwide as of September 2023 (in million U.S. dollars)

Leading online travel companies worldwide 2020-2022, by revenue CAGR

Revenue compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of leading online travel companies worldwide from 2020 to 2022

Leading online travel companies worldwide 2022-2023, by EV/EBITDA

Enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) of selected leading online travel companies worldwide in 2022, with a forecast for 2023

Selected trends

  • Premium Statistic Global travelers who believe in the importance of green travel 2022
  • Premium Statistic Sustainable initiatives travelers would adopt worldwide 2022, by region
  • Premium Statistic Airbnb revenue worldwide 2017-2023
  • Premium Statistic Airbnb nights and experiences booked worldwide 2017-2023
  • Premium Statistic Technologies global hotels plan to implement in the next three years 2022
  • Premium Statistic Hotel technologies global consumers think would improve their future stay 2022

Global travelers who believe in the importance of green travel 2022

Share of travelers that believe sustainable travel is important worldwide in 2022

Sustainable initiatives travelers would adopt worldwide 2022, by region

Main sustainable initiatives travelers are willing to adopt worldwide in 2022, by region

Airbnb revenue worldwide 2017-2023

Revenue of Airbnb worldwide from 2017 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Airbnb nights and experiences booked worldwide 2017-2023

Nights and experiences booked with Airbnb from 2017 to 2023 (in millions)

Technologies global hotels plan to implement in the next three years 2022

Technologies hotels are most likely to implement in the next three years worldwide as of 2022

Hotel technologies global consumers think would improve their future stay 2022

Must-have hotel technologies to create a more amazing stay in the future among travelers worldwide as of 2022

  • Premium Statistic Travel and tourism revenue worldwide 2019-2028, by segment
  • Premium Statistic Distribution of sales channels in the travel and tourism market worldwide 2017-2027
  • Premium Statistic Inbound tourism visitor growth worldwide 2020-2025, by region
  • Premium Statistic Outbound tourism visitor growth worldwide 2020-2025, by region

Travel and tourism revenue worldwide 2019-2028, by segment

Revenue of the global travel and tourism market from 2019 to 2028, by segment (in billion U.S. dollars)

Distribution of sales channels in the travel and tourism market worldwide 2017-2027

Revenue share of sales channels of the travel and tourism market worldwide from 2017 to 2027

Inbound tourism visitor growth worldwide 2020-2025, by region

Inbound tourism visitor growth worldwide from 2020 to 2022, with a forecast until 2025, by region

Outbound tourism visitor growth worldwide 2020-2025, by region

Outbound tourism visitor growth worldwide from 2020 to 2022, with a forecast until 2025, by region

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International Business Travel, Management of Global Business Travel

International business travel.

International business travel

For many businesses across the United States, commerce is a global activity and with an international economy comes the challenge of doing businesses in other countries around the world.

Global travel is not without its risk and the coronavirus pandemic has shown that from a business perspective, organizing travel and ensuring the safety of your staff has raised a whole new set of challenges and issues, many of which not all businesses were prepared for.

As global business travel starts to increase again, both employees and businesses are looking at ways that they can still travel internationally for business, whilst maintaining safety and ensuring that any fast-moving changes and situations are managed effectively and easily without incurring the cost of having to rebook or cancel at short notice.

International Business Travel Risks

When it comes to traveling internationally for business, just like with leisure travel, it isn't without some potential risk. While the majority of business travel is carried out without a hitch it's always a good idea to be prepared for the worst.

Some of the travel risks that travelers need to watch out for include staying safe in unfamiliar locations, keeping travel documents secure and maintaining health, which has become paramount in recent times.

Other risks that affect international business travel are last minute changes to a person's schedule, such as cancellations and problems with bookings. Modern business travelers need to have a set of dynamic policies and tools they can rely on to ensure that they can quickly adapt to any challenges that arise.

The good news is, there are plenty of things a business can do to insulate itself from issues with international travel and to help maintain the health and safety of their employees when traveling on behalf of their organization.

One of the key improvements a business can make to their business travel program to help mitigate the majority of these potential travel problems is to use an effective travel policy .

How International Business Travelers Can Protect Themselves

When traveling abroad it's always a good idea to have a travel insurance policy to cover potential issues. As a business traveler, your personal travel insurance policy might cover you for business trips, but it's worth double-checking the policy with your provider prior to travel to avoid expensive mistakes. The company you work for might also cover you under a business travel insurance scheme, but you should again check with your employer to find out what is, and what isn't covered. For example, it's never advisable to travel without a health care policy in case of illness or accident.

It's also a good idea to familiarize yourself with the location of the nearest U.S. embassies so that if the worst happens and you lose important documents like your passport, you'll know where to go to resolve the issue.

Although employees may take a pragmatic approach to traveling safety, employers have a duty of care to their personnel, which means as a company you might be looking at ways to keep your employees safe when they're out traveling for your business. Ultimately, the best way this can be achieved is by implementing a comprehensive travel risk management program and by creating travel policies to maintain travel compliance and ensure traveler safety.

Coronavirus Pandemic's Impact on Global Corporate Travel

Over the last few years, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused huge problems traveling internationally. Even at a domestic level, the road warriors who travel around visiting customers and businesses across the U.S. have found that state to state, U.S. travel still has its own unique restrictions and challenges to deal with.

For business travelers looking to travel to a foreign country in many locations, travel restrictions have been put in place to stop unnecessary travel. As the coronavirus vaccine has been rolled out, some of these travel restrictions have started to lift and travel plans are starting to be made again.

When it comes to international business travel, it's always a good idea to check the status of the country that you're going to, so you can ensure that you can travel by meeting any restrictions that are in place. The Egencia ® Travel Advisor tool can quickly and easily identify issues in various locations around the world. In addition, you can find travel advisories for trips during COVID-19, including regulations for destinations, and safety and health guidelines.

Benefits of International Business Travel

Even though business travel has reduced over the last few years, and with the targets to reduce carbon emissions, many businesses are looking at ways to reduce expensive (and emission producing) business trips where possible. However, while some business meetings can be held via video conferencing services, it can be difficult or impossible to carry out some business functions virtually. Often, you just have to be there!

There are a number of benefits of face-to-face meetings with colleagues or clients, and these include:

Being able to read body language. It can be difficult to pick up on the non-verbal cues when speaking virtually. Humans have the ability to pick up on subtle micro expressions that people give off, and adapt accordingly. This can help with competitiveness and closing deals that might otherwise be lost if those micro expressions are not picked up on - which is hard to do virtually!

Building relationships. Many customers prefer face-to-face meetings as business often isn't just about what you can offer as an organization but also about relationships and finding people and corporate philosophies that are in synergy together. This is much easier to do in person, where small talk and more natural interactions can occur between people and teams.

Improve focus and concentration. When in a face-to-face meeting you tend to have the full attention of the people that you are speaking to. When on a video call, you might find that people in the meeting aren't paying as much attention. They could be looking at social media, answering emails and not being fully engaged. In a face-to-face meeting the likelihood of this happening is significantly reduced.

Easier to deal with different time zones. International business can take place across lots of different time zones. When trying to organize a call or video meeting, it can mean that someone somewhere, will have to accommodate an out-of-hours calendar invite that might come at a very inconvenient time. For global organizations this can mean that someone will have to have a call or meeting very early in the morning, or very late at night. This can reduce productivity and effectiveness if people are tired. This can also mean that people are keener to get the meeting over and done with faster, so meetings can be rushed.

A face-to-face meeting means time zones won't matter because everyone will be one the same schedule. Of course, an international flight can introduce the dreaded jet lag, but this can be compensated for by proper scheduling of the flight and adequate rest.

For the individual business traveler, there are also benefits to be had from traveling internationally. For instance, it can make a job more interesting and engaging as you get to explore and see new cultures and locations.

International travel can make a job more varied, as you'll often experience new things, activities and meeting new people. For many employees this is the sort of thing they look for in a role, and it can make for a happier employee. When the employee is restricted to a conference phone call or video meeting, often from their own homes or satellite office, the day-to-day can become boring. International travel is a way to keep employees engaged, happy and most importantly efficient and effective.

With the ability to use laptops and mobile computing devices when traveling and when using air travel, there's a lot less employee downtime, so in many cases an employee can still carry out work when on a long-haul flight.

International Business Travel Management

Some companies leave the booking of international travel to the employees to handle, but this is not always the best use of their time, nor is it the most cost-effective way to travel.

That's why many companies use a travel management company such as Egencia to simplify and streamline business travel. Egencia help businesses manage travel risk and help to ensure traveler wellbeing no matter where they travel to. Egencia's travel management solutions also help support your business and plan for the future.

You can set up travel policies for your employees and you can keep in contact with your team globally to keep them informed and ensure their safety when out on business using our travel risk management tools and services.

Future of International Business Travel

When it comes to international business trips, the future holds interesting challenges for travel managers. The coronavirus pandemic has shown that a dynamic approach to business travel is needed. This can be hard to maintain when managing your own business travel program. This is why many companies turn to Egencia to help support their business travel program.

In addition to the need for more dynamic business travel solutions , many organizations are looking for ways to reduce their carbon impact on the environment and areas such as business travel, and especially international business travel are under the spotlight as this is an area where savings can be made. This is where Egencia's travel policy solutions can help, from ensuring only direct flights are booked, but also by ensuring travel options that are environmentally friendly are used more often.

So, whether you're looking for dynamic business travel solutions, need help setting up travel policies for your employees, or want to reduce your carbon footprint, we can help you fine tune your International travel. Visit Egencia.com to find out how we can make your global travel run smoothly.

Looking for better business travel solutions? Get in touch with us.

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The TTDI benchmarks and measures “the set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable and resilient development of the T&T sector, which in turn contributes to the development of a country”. The TTDI is a direct evolution of the long-running Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), with the change reflecting the index’s increased coverage of T&T development concepts, including sustainability and resilience impact on T&T growth and is designed to highlight the sector’s role in broader economic and social development as well as the need for T&T stakeholder collaboration to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, bolster the recovery and deal with future challenges and risks. Some of the most notable framework and methodology differences between the TTCI and TTDI include the additions of new pillars, including Non-Leisure Resources, Socioeconomic Resilience and Conditions, and T&T Demand Pressure and Impact. Please see the Technical notes and methodology. section to learn more about the index and the differences between the TTCI and TTDI.

The World Economic Forum's latest Travel & Tourism Development Index highlights many of these aspects, including the opportunity and need to rebuild the travel and tourism sector for the better by making it more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient. This will unleash its potential to drive future economic and social progress.

Within this context, we asked four business leaders in the sector to reflect on the state of its recovery, lessons learned from the pandemic, and the conditions that are critical for the future success of travel and tourism businesses and destinations.

global travel business

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“The way we live and work has changed because of the pandemic and the way we travel has changed as well”

Tony Capuano, CEO, Marriott International

Despite the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the future looks bright for travel and tourism. Across the globe, people are already getting back on the road. Demand for travel is incredibly resilient and as vaccination rates have risen and restrictions eased, travel has rebounded quickly, often led by leisure.

The way many of us live and work has changed because of the pandemic and the way we travel has changed as well. New categories of travel have emerged. The rise of “bleisure” travel is one example – combining elements of business and leisure travel into a single trip. Newly flexible work arrangements, including the opportunity for many knowledge workers to work remotely, have created opportunities for extended travel, not limited by a Monday to Friday “9 to 5” workweek in the office.

To capitalize on this renewed and growing demand for new travel experiences, industry must join governments and policymakers to ensure that the right conditions are in place to welcome travellers as they prepare to get back on the road again, particularly those who cross international borders. Thus far, much of the recovery has been led by domestic and leisure travel. The incremental recovery of business and international travel, however, will be significant for the broader industry and the millions who make their livelihoods through travel and tourism.

Looking ahead to future challenges to the sector, be they public health conditions, international crises, or climate impacts, global coordination will be the essential component in tackling difficult circumstances head-on. International agreement on common – or at least compatible – standards and decision-making frameworks around global travel is key. Leveraging existing organizations and processes to achieve consensus as challenges emerge will help reduce risk and improve collaboration while keeping borders open.

“The travel and tourism sector will not be able to survive unless it adapts to the virtual market and sustainability conscience travellers”

Shinya Katanozaka, Representative Director, Chairman, ANA Holdings Inc.

At a time when people’s movements are still being restricted by the pandemic, there is a strong, renewed sense that people want to travel and that they want to go places for business and leisure.

In that respect, the biggest change has been in the very concept of “travel.”

A prime example is the rapid expansion of the market for “virtual travel.” This trend has been accelerated not only by advances in digital technologies, but also by the protracted pandemic. The travel and tourism sector will not be able to survive unless it adapts to this new market.

However, this is not as simple as a shift from “real” to “virtual.” Virtual experiences will flow back into a rediscovery of the value of real experiences. And beyond that, to a hunger for real experiences with clearer and more diverse purposes. The hope is that this meeting of virtual and actual will bring balance and synergy the industry.

The pandemic has also seen the emergence of the “sustainability-conscious” traveller, which means that the aviation industry and others are now facing the challenge of adding decarbonization to their value proposition. This trend will force a re-examination of what travel itself should look like and how sustainable practices can be incorporated and communicated. Addressing this challenge will also require stronger collaboration across the entire industry. We believe that this will play an important role in the industry’s revitalization as it recovers from the pandemic.

How is the World Economic Forum promoting sustainable and inclusive mobility systems?

The World Economic Forum’s Platform for Shaping the Future of Mobility works across four industries: aerospace and drones; automotive and new mobility; aviation travel and tourism; and supply chain and transport. It aims to ensure that the future of mobility is safe, clean, and inclusive.

  • Through the Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition , more than 100 companies are working together to power global aviation with 10% sustainable aviation fuel by 2030.
  • In collaboration with UNICEF, the Forum developed a charter with leading shipping, airlines and logistics to support COVAX in delivering more than 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines to vulnerable communities worldwide.
  • The Road Freight Zero Project and P4G-Getting to Zero Coalition have led to outcomes demonstrating the rationale, costs and opportunities for accelerating the transition to zero emission freight.
  • The Medicine from the Sky initiative is using drones to deliver vaccines and medicine to remote areas in India, completing over 300 successful trials.
  • The Forum’s Target True Zero initiative is working to accelerate the deployment and scaling of zero emission aviation, leveraging electric and hydrogen flight technologies.
  • In collaboration with the City of Los Angeles, Federal Aviation Administration, and NASA, the Forum developed the Principles of the Urban Sky to help adopt Urban Air Mobility in cities worldwide.
  • The Forum led the development of the Space Sustainability Rating to incentivize and promote a more safe and sustainable approach to space mission management and debris mitigation in orbit.
  • The Circular Cars Initiative is informing the automotive circularity policy agenda, following the endorsement from European Commission and Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Council countries, and is now invited to support China’s policy roadmap.
  • The Moving India network is working with policymakers to advance electric vehicle manufacturing policies, ignite adoption of zero emission road freight vehicles, and finance the transition.
  • The Urban Mobility Scorecards initiative – led by the Forum’s Global New Mobility Coalition – is bringing together mobility operators and cities to benchmark the transition to sustainable urban mobility systems.

Contact us for more information on how to get involved.

“The tourism industry must advocate for better protection of small businesses”

Gilda Perez-Alvarado, Global CEO, JLL Hotels & Hospitality

In the next few years, I think sustainability practices will become more prevalent as travellers become both more aware and interested in what countries, destinations and regions are doing in the sustainability space. Both core environmental pieces, such as water and air, and a general approach to sustainability are going to be important.

Additionally, I think conservation becomes more important in terms of how destinations and countries explain what they are doing, as the importance of climate change and natural resources are going to be critical and become top of mind for travellers.

The second part to this is we may see more interest in outdoor events going forward because it creates that sort of natural social distancing, if you will, or that natural safety piece. Doing outdoor activities such as outdoor dining, hiking and festivals may be a more appealing alternative to overcrowded events and spaces.

A lot of lessons were learned over the last few years, but one of the biggest ones was the importance of small business. As an industry, we must protect small business better. We need to have programmes outlined that successfully help small businesses get through challenging times.

Unfortunately, during the pandemic, many small businesses shut down and may never return. Small businesses are important to the travel and tourism sector because they bring uniqueness to destinations. People don’t travel to visit the same places they could visit at home; they prefer unique experiences that are only offered by specific businesses. If you were to remove all the small businesses from a destination, it would be a very different experience.

“Data shows that the majority of travellers want to explore destinations in a more immersive and experiential way”

Steve Kaufer, Co-Founder & CEO, Tripadvisor

We’re on the verge of a travel renaissance. The pandemic might have interrupted the global travel experience, but people are slowly coming out of the bubble. Businesses need to acknowledge the continued desire to feel safe when travelling. A Tripadvisor survey revealed that three-quarters (76%) of travellers will still make destination choices based on low COVID-19 infection rates.

As such, efforts to showcase how businesses care for travellers - be it by deep cleaning their properties or making items like hand sanitizer readily available - need to be ingrained within tourism operations moving forward.

But travel will also evolve in other ways, and as an industry, we need to be prepared to think digitally, and reimagine our use of physical space.

Hotels will become dynamic meeting places for teams to bond in our new hybrid work style. Lodgings near major corporate headquarters will benefit from an influx of bookings from employees convening for longer periods. They will also make way for the “bleisure” traveller who mixes business trips with leisure. Hotels in unique locales will become feasible workspaces. Employers should prepare for their workers to tag on a few extra days to get some rest and relaxation after on-location company gatherings.

Beyond the pandemic, travellers will also want to explore the world differently, see new places and do new things. Our data reveals that the majority want to explore destinations in a more immersive and experiential way, and to feel more connected to the history and culture. While seeing the top of the Empire State building has been a typical excursion for tourists in New York city, visitors will become more drawn to intimate activities like taking a cooking class in Brooklyn with a family of pizza makers who go back generations. This will undoubtedly be a significant area of growth in the travel and tourism industry.

Governments would be smart to plan as well, and to consider an international playbook that helps prepare us for the next public health crisis, inclusive of universal vaccine passports and policies that get us through borders faster.

Understanding these key trends - the ongoing need to feel safe and the growing desire to travel differently - and planning for the next crisis will be essential for governments, destinations, and tourism businesses to succeed in the efforts to keep the world travelling.

Travel Incorporated

2024 Global Business Travel: Projections and Perspectives

2024 GBTA Global Biz Travel Predictions

(09-28-2023)

The Global Business Travel Association released its predictions with an exciting projection for 2024 of surpassing the global pre-pandemic business level spend to $1.4 trillion. This forecast further extends growth to $1.8 trillion by 2027.

Business travel spend and booking patterns are entering a dynamic environment. The pandemic’s overall influence on the direction of business travel is less important than other drivers including macroeconomic volatility, sustainability initiatives among stakeholders throughout the business travel ecosystem and shifts in workplace trends.

THE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE The impacts of inflation alongside consumer demand will determine the level of flattening of prices for corporate trips as it potentially fills the gap for the previous explosion of leisure bookings. Accordingly, suppliers will continue to have leverage as they manage their content/availability through dynamic pricing, with fewer reductions as they retain their pricing power.

Global Business Travel Spend

GLOBAL ECONOMY AND THE IMPACT TO BUSINESS TRAVEL:

  • The deceleration of global economic growth (expected to be just 3% over the next five years) will slow down price increases for business travel.
  • Energy prices including fuel (both standard aviation kerosene and sustainable available fuel/SAF), as well as supplier energy costs are rising which will impact overall fare fluctuations.

NORTH AMERICAN PRICE PREDICTIONS

AIR: Economy Class fares are expected to rise 2.4% with an average fare of $614 (compared to 2023 average ticket price of $599).

Airfare Projections

MIDSCALE HOTEL: Midscale Hotel average daily rate change is forecasted to increase by 3.2% to $160 per room night with a 3.3% increase in upscale properties to $247 per room night.

Hotel Projections

SHIFTS IN CORPORATE FOCUS

  • Carbon budgeting and the counting of emissions is gaining traction with more progressive companies signing up to Scope 3 emission cuts and science based targets. This will drive the demand for sustainable aviation fuel, and purposeful travel buying decisions.
  • The cost of premium classes of service and upscale hotels are rising at the highest rate due to ongoing leisure travel demand. If this trend continues, it is projected to shift policy parameters to accommodate for a premiumization of corporate travel and related budget alterations.

NEW TRENDS IN TRAVELER’S BUYING DECISIONS

  • 82% of travelers reported that business travel is very or moderately worthwhile in achieving their business objectives.
  • Rise in blending business and leisure travel. While this was a trending behavior in 2019, today’s business travelers are taking advantage of their destinations to explore and build in a wellness perspective, especially on international travel.

The findings outlined above are the central findings from the latest Annual Global Report and Forecast published by GBTA.

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Travel Disruptors: Capturing B2B growth

In 1996, Expedia—then under the auspices of Microsoft—debuted as one of the internet’s first online travel agencies (OTAs). Expedia Group is now a publicly held company encompassing brands such as Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. It sees more than six million average daily visitors and more than one billion average monthly searches across its sites and apps.

Ariane Gorin joined Expedia Group in 2013 and is now president of Expedia for Business. She oversees the company’s fast-growing global B2B ecosystem, which counts Walmart and United Airlines among its partners. Gorin’s advice to young people who are thinking of entering the travel industry? “Go for it,” she says, “because once you get in, you’ll never want to leave. What we do as an industry is help people create memories, and that’s incredibly meaningful.”

In this installment of Travel Disruptors , Gorin spoke with McKinsey’s Emma Loxton about the industry’s postpandemic recovery, Expedia Group’s B2B offerings, and how generative AI (gen AI) might change the business of travel. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

McKinsey: As the travel industry continues to bounce back from the pandemic, we see people traveling and interacting with travel companies in slightly altered ways. How has Expedia Group responded? Where have you invested to deliver for customers?

Ariane Gorin: It’s been an interesting few years. One thing that’s certain is that people need to travel, want to travel, and—no matter what barriers are put up—will find a way to travel.

At Expedia Group, when COVID-19 arrived in 2020 and borders closed, we saw consumers shifting to Vrbo, which is our vacation rentals brand. People were concerned with health and safety and wanted to be in their own bubbles, so they started renting whole homes. This meant that, while the air and hotel businesses didn’t do as well, the Vrbo business thrived.

Then, as vaccinations began and international borders opened, we saw people returning to international travel, hotels, and airlines. At Expedia Group, we have a diversified business, both geographically and in terms of brands and lines of business, so that as travel patterns changed, we always had an answer.

In terms of investments, I think we’ve led the way in having a focus on self-service and automation. When the pandemic began, we needed to handle a sudden onslaught of requests for cancellations, refunds, and credits. We were prepared because we’d already made a lot of investments in self-service technology. We quickly developed the ability, for example, for people to self-service airline credits, which was important for travelers but also really important for our airline partners. We let consumers make modifications using chats on our platform, instead of having them spend time on the phone with an airline trying to cancel or modify a ticket.

We also took advantage of the past couple of years to replatform our entire company. We have a number of brands—Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, and others—that were each running on different technology stacks. In a world where having access to data and scale can be an advantage, the idea that we had these separate stacks and couldn’t innovate on them all at the same time was a problem for us. We found we had an opportunity, during a period of depressed demand, to do a lot of technology work under the covers and to then reemerge with a great platform that had scale and modern infrastructure and that allowed us to use modern data science to innovate faster for our travelers.

McKinsey: Countries have taken different paths back from 2020, and travel markets are developing at varied paces. How do you see the industry evolving in different markets?

Ariane Gorin: There are parts of the industry that have grown past where they were prepandemic, but other parts haven’t fully recovered yet. For example, air capacity in the United States is above prepandemic levels, but airlift between the United States and China is still only a fraction of what it was. Corporate travel is expected to recover, at a dollar value, in 2024 to where it was prepandemic, but when you factor in inflation, it means that from a volume perspective it still won’t have fully recovered.

There remain a lot of areas where there could be waves of growth. When you look at the middle-class population in Asia, it was about 2.0 billion people in 2020, but it’s expected to be 3.5 billion people by 2030. India, over the past decade, has issued 100 million passports, but still only 7 percent of the Indian population has a passport—compared with more than 40 percent in the US.

McKinsey: You’ve been instrumental in developing B2B offerings for Expedia Group. What was the genesis of that effort, where does it stand now, and what’s your value proposition for the different organizations that you work with?

Ariane Gorin: I started working on B2B initiatives in 2014. At the time, B2B was a small part of our business—basically using our hotel inventory to power other travel companies—and it wasn’t growing much. I think there was a perspective that the B2B business was sort of a sideshow.

What my team and I realized was that the travel industry was immense and that the major OTAs, at that time, were only a small portion of it. There was still a ton of business being done through corporate travel, OTAs in emerging markets, offline retail, and loyalty programs. Those were huge pockets of demand that our brands weren’t going after and that our hotel and airline partners wanted to be able to access.

We thought about how we could power all these other companies by bringing to them our technology and, especially, our supply of high-quality inventory. In recent results, B2B was at a record $995 million and growing at a 26 percent increase year over year for us. And there’s still a big runway for helping to power other companies.

The first thing in any B2B effort is understanding what your client or partner needs. For example, we work with an online travel agency in Indonesia. They already understand travel, and they are experts at knowing what their local traveler wants—how to market to that traveler, what payment types that traveler wants to use, and so forth. They know all of that. What they’re looking for from us is mainly access to great hotel inventory in Europe and in the US.

On the other extreme, earlier this year we announced a partnership with Walmart in which we are powering the travel component of its loyalty program. Walmart is not a travel company, so it is looking to Expedia Group to bring in a turnkey travel solution. And that includes not only the hotel inventory and the like but also the front-end technology. It’s our content and it’s our customer support. Similarly, if you go to United Airlines online and you look at the hotel tab, that’s us. They’ll be the first to say they’re not the experts in hotels, so they want our hotel inventory and also the great e-commerce experience that we can bring.

It’s really about listening to your partner and then having modular blocks of solutions—from technology to inventory and all of the support around them—that you can then fit to what the partner needs.

One of the things that’s helped our B2B business succeed is that we are part of a company that also has a B2C business. So we know what kinds of photos, content, and descriptions travelers want, and we are constantly making sure that our technology has the best uptime possible because we’ve got millions of people shopping on our own brands. When a B2B partner decides to come to us for their inventory or their technology, they know that it’s going to be backed by what’s working for these massive consumer brands.

McKinsey: Expedia Group is a very large company in the travel industry. How do you think about working with smaller organizations and entrepreneurs to create value for the traveling public?

Ariane Gorin: We’ve realized there are a lot of small companies or even individuals that want to participate in the travel industry, and we work with them in a number of ways.

One is that we have a program that allows an individual at home to become a travel agent. You can sign up for the Expedia Travel Agent Affiliate Program, which we call TAAP, and we’ll put all the tools at your fingertips to start to sell travel. For example, one woman who lost her job at the beginning of the pandemic decided to start her own travel business through TAAP, and that helped her build back her income.

For start-ups that are trying to make their way in the travel industry, we recently created an accelerator program. Its theme was around making travel more inclusive and accessible, so we chose a handful of start-ups that were working on accessibility. We gave them technical expertise, marketing expertise, access to coaches and mentors in our company, and stipends. It’s a six-month program. And in some cases, we actually looked at whether we could integrate their services into our products. It’s really fun to see how all of those start-ups are evolving.

And, of course, there are the individual property owners using Vrbo. What these entrepreneurs are primarily looking to us for is distribution. And our promise to them is that we’re going to develop a great platform with great marketing that’s going to attract travelers, but we’ll also provide advice about photos, descriptions, and other things they can do to help themselves get in front of the travelers who interest them. We have a lot of intelligence about what makes a property successful that we can share with them.

McKinsey: What’s your view on the biggest use cases for gen AI in the travel industry?

Ariane Gorin: I think smart players are going to benefit from it. We have often talked about how to “put the travel agent back in the OTA”—how to create a personalized experience for people, so they feel that Expedia Group knows them, is recommending things that make sense for them, and is helping them discover new things. I think within that realm of personalization, we can use gen AI to respond more easily to people’s queries and make proposals for them. We’ve already integrated ChatGPT on the front end of the Expedia app and into the shopping flow for our travelers. For example, if you’re looking at a particular property, you can ask questions about amenities, and you’ll have more conversational customer service experiences.

But I think there are also a lot of internal use cases. I have a fairly large team of commercial people who are out talking to partners every day. How can we use gen AI to make them more effective when they’re speaking to a partner? Can we use gen AI to create a summary after a call? Can we off-load some of the less value-add work for them so they can spend their time on more value-add things?

I suspect that in every boardroom, management teams are talking about this. What can you do to make your product better, but also what can you do internally for your company? At Expedia Group, we’re asking what we can do for travelers and for our internal teams, but also what we can do for our partners. We have a lot of information and data about what’s happening in the industry, so we’re wondering to what extent we can provide insights to our partners to help them make better decisions.

McKinsey: What’s one thing you wish you could change about the travel industry?

Ariane Gorin: There’s no denying that, like many industries, we have a big impact on the environment—even though, over the past few years, the growth of the industry has been faster than the growth of our environmental impact. Simply because we’re moving people around the world, sustainability is a real issue. So if I had a magic wand, the first thing I’d do is help us reach our sustainability targets much faster.

Ariane Gorin is the president of Expedia for Business. Emma Loxton is a partner in McKinsey’s London office.

Comments and opinions expressed by interviewees are their own and do not represent or reflect the opinions, policies, or positions of McKinsey & Company or have its endorsement.

This interview was edited by Seth Stevenson, a senior editor in the New York office.

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  • Dec 21, 2022

2023 Outlook: Business Travel Bounces Back

Corporate travel budgets are recovering to pre-covid levels, our new survey finds. see where companies are spending in the year ahead..

After grinding to a near halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, business trips—and profits for hotels and airlines catering to higher-paying corporate clients—are bouncing back even beyond pre-pandemic levels, per a recent survey from Morgan Stanley Research.

Despite higher airfares and room rates, the survey of 100 global corporate travel managers found that many respondents believe their company's travel expenditures are already back to pre-pandemic levels and will continue to grow. The biggest demand is coming from small companies, which means lower-cost airlines may benefit the more than their bigger peers.

“Travel budgets are expected to see a noticeable improvement in 2022, with 2023 nearly back to ‘normal,’” says Ravi Shanker, an equity analyst covering North American transportation.  “Most interesting is that nearly half of the respondents expect 2023 budgets to increase versus 2019 overall. And of those that expect an increase in budgets, the majority believe 2023 budgets will be between 6% to 10% higher than 2019.”

Overall travel budgets show an improvement over previous surveys, with 2023 budgets expected to be 98% of 2019 levels on average.

Survey Highlights

  •   Smaller companies lead demand for corporate travel. More than two-thirds (68%) of companies with under $1 billion in annual revenue expect travel budgets to increase next year, versus just 41% of companies with annual revenues over $16 billion. Similarly, 32% of smaller companies said travel budgets had returned to pre-pandemic levels compared with 23% of big firms. “This trend could likely favor low-cost carriers, as smaller enterprises tend to be more localized and require less long-haul travel,” says Shanker. “However, the legacy carriers with strong corporate exposure should see gains as well.”  

Nearly a quarter of both large and small companies say their firms are already back to pre-COVID travel levels, and 34% anticipate a full recovery by the end of 2023.

ESG Rate of Change

Holiday budgets hit by inflation, seeing a peak for food prices.

  •   Airfares are higher, but that’s not a drag on bookings. On average, corporate airfares are expected to be about 9% higher than pre-pandemic prices. “Clearly the expected increase in corporate airfares is not having a major impact on corporate travel as passenger volume is expected to be basically flat versus 2019,” says Shanker.
  • Room rates will continue to rise, though not as fast as they have recently. As of this October, market room rates had spiked 20% to 25% over 2019. Next year they will rise even more, though by an average of just 8%, say respondents (9% in the U.S. and U.K.; 5% to 6% in Latin America, Asia and Africa).
  • Hotels face economic and competitive headwinds. While overall travel budgets are growing, companies are cutting costs by trading down when it comes to accommodations. (Historically, budget hotels outperform upscale lodging in tough economic times.) Alternative sources of accommodation also threaten traditional hotels, with 31% of respondents saying they intend to use short-term rental services in the next year.
  • Virtual meetings aren’t going away.  Almost 18% of corporate travel will be replaced with virtual meetings, falling slightly to 17% in 2024, suggesting a degree of permanence in the shift with companies recognizing the benefits of virtual meetings ranging from cost savings to lower carbon footprints. Expect companies providing collaboration software to gain from this shift.

For more Morgan Stanley Research insights and analysis on global travel, ask your Morgan Stanley representative or Financial Advisor for the full reports, “Global Corporate Travel Survey: Snapping Back" (Nov. 8, 2022) and “Global Corporate Travel Survey: 2023 Travel Budgets Nearly Back to 2019 Levels, but ~20% of Meetings Could Still Shift to Virtual” (Nov. 8. 2022). Morgan Stanley Research clients can access the reports directly here and here . Plus more Ideas from Morgan Stanley’s thought leaders.

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A revived luxury cruise line wants you to spend more than 4 months at sea sailing to 27 countries for $84,000

  • Crystal says its around-the-world cruise in 2026 will sail to 72 ports in 27 countries.
  • Luxury travel company Abercrombie and Kent acquired Crystal in 2022 following the latter's tumultuous demise.
  • Crystal's first world cruise following its revival and rebrand departed in February. 

Insider Today

Recently relaunched luxury cruise line Crystal wants to woo you back. How does a 135-day around-the-world sailing sound?

In 2026, Crystal says one of its two ships will sail from Los Angeles to Rome on a 4 ½ -month cruise. Along the way, travelers can expect to see 72 ports in 27 countries, from Australia's recognizable Sydney Opera House to Monaco's legendary Grand Prix.

On January 11, 2026, the cruise line says its Crystal Serenity will head west from California to Pacific Islands like Bora Bora.

global travel business

Then, it's off to New Zealand and Australia before hitting destinations like Hong Kong, Mumbai, and Bali, Indonesia.

Let’s not forget stops in Athens, Greece, and the Mediterranean before an exciting call in Monaco.

global travel business

From there, about 4 ½ months at sea later, the global journey would finally conclude in Rome on May 26, 2026.

Bookings for a double occupancy cabin will open on March 19 at $84,000 per person.

Throughout the journey, travelers will get to luxuriate in Crystal Serenity's venues, which include a piano bar and cognac and cigar club.

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Active guests can spend their afternoons at the putting green or pickleball court.

Travelers seeking a relaxing vacation can instead head to the spa or sip on afternoon tea at the floor-to-ceiling window-lined lounge.

The only thing more dramatic than this global cruise? The journey Crystal took to get here.

global travel business

It wasn't always smooth sailing for the luxury cruise line. In early 2022, Crystal, then Crystal Cruises, made a big splash — and not the good kind.

At the time, the company — then owned by Genting Hong Kong — was facing bankruptcy, the sudden shutdown of its US operations, and the arrest of two of its cruise ships over millions of dollars in unpaid fuel bills.

A few months later, luxury travel group Abercrombie and Kent acquired the cruise line and its previously arrested ships.

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Abercrombie and Kent, like the luxury travel company that organizes around-the-world trips via private jets .

Not the clothing store that smells like cologne (that's Abercombie and Fitch).

These days, Crystal and its ships look a bit different.

global travel business

Like your best friend post-breakup, Crystal has taken on a new identity: The company dropped "cruises" from its name and spent $150 million refreshing its two ships , the Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony. Both resumed service in 2023.

In February, the company’s first world cruise since its revival departed San Diego on a 125-night sailing.

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The Crystal Serenity is now traveling around the globe with almost 200 guests, a company spokesperson told Business Insider. (Baby steps: The ship has a guest capacity of 740, though the company points out that some segments of the around-the-world itinerary have actually been fully booked.)

However, the spokesperson said bookings for its 2025 around-the-world sailing are "even stronger, with a significant portion" of its 2024 world cruise guests having also booked the 2025 itinerary.

Crystal’s upcoming sailings currently start at five nights long.

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But like other premium operators, it looks like Crystal will continue leaning into its around-the-world itineraries , as signaled by its recently announced 2026 global sailing.

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Amex Global Business Travel Sees Big Wins in Small Business Spend Management 

global travel business

Business travel, once a stalwart of corporate existence, has been taxiing on the post-COVID runway.

But the strong  financial results posted by American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) on Tuesday (March 5) for the fourth quarter and full year ending Dec. 31 point to hopes that the sector could be cleared for takeoff — and may already even be midflight.

Amex GBT, which is operated by Global Business Travel Group — a business-to-business (B2B) software and services company for travel and expense — reported that its revenue for the fourth quarter 2023 reached $549 million, nearly doubling year over year, while adjusted EBITDA stood at $80 million. For the full year, revenue increased by 24% to $2.29 billion, with adjusted EBITDA up nearly four times to $380 million.

This performance was driven by strong demand for the company’s software and services, executives on Tuesday’s call noted.

For full-year 2024, the company is guiding to 6-9% revenue growth driven by expected stable growth in business travel and Amex GBT’s continued share gains.

As Karen Williams , Amex GBT’s chief financial officer, stated: “Our 2024 guidance demonstrates the power of our financial model to leverage stable travel demand growth to above-industry revenue growth.”

Read more :  Businesses Reconsider Travel Amid Cost-Cutting and Environmental Concerns

Investing in Small Businesses

More and more small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers are recognizing the value of managed travel programs, Amex GBT executives told investors.

“SME new wins for 2023 totaled $2.2 billion, a record for our business, and were up $100 million year over year. Of this, approximately 30% has come from previously unmanaged customers who are looking for the service savings and control that our solutions provide. This is 5 percentage points higher than our mix of unmanaged new wins in 2022,” said Paul Abbott , Amex GBT’s CEO.

Overall, Amex GBT reported a record total new wins of $3.5 billion in 2023, demonstrating the effectiveness of its market expansion strategies. The company boasted a customer retention rate of 96%.

On Monday (March 4), Amex GBT announced  a new integration with American Express that lets small businesses issue a virtual card for their employees via Amex GBT’s Neo1 spend management platform.

Executives used Tuesday’s call to stress how the integration represents a significant step forward in offering comprehensive solutions for SMEs, combining procurement, expense management, online travel and payments into a single software solution.

“The integration of payment is really, really important because what customers can now do in Year 1 is they can simply add their eligible American Express business or corporate card account into the platform. And then they can use that to set budgets and to issue virtual payment cards to employees across the company, at the same time, setting controls and policies in the platform. So, it’s a very powerful solution for businesses that are really looking for that turnkey all-in-one spend management platform,” Abbott said.

See also :  Amex Integrates Virtual Cards With Business Travel Platform

Amex GBT’s transaction growth was also impressive, with a 19% increase in full-year transactions driven by increased demand for business travel and share gains. Total transaction value (TTV) grew by 23%, fueled by strong transaction growth and an increased mix in international bookings. Hotel growth outpaced air travel, reflecting industry trends and Amex GBT’s focus on providing customers with more value and choice.

Regionally, transaction growth was 16% in the Americas, 20% in EMEA, and 29% in Asia Pacific due to a delayed recovery in the region. Amex GBT’s revenue performance was driven by its business services and travel tiers, with strong new wins and increased demand for business travel, meetings, and events from its diverse customer base.

Looking ahead to 2024, GBT anticipates 3-5% growth in the business travel space.

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Business platinum card from american express review 2024.

Business Platinum Card from American Express

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Small-business owners who travel often can benefit significantly from the right travel rewards credit card. These cards offer perks that help offset common business expenses and make frequent business travel a little easier.

The card_name is one option for those seeking to add a new credit card to their wallet. This card comes with premium benefits for your business and travel perks that will make your business trips feel more like mini-vacations.

The Business Platinum Card from American Express

Time’s take.

While the card_name comes with significant perks, including over $1,000 in statement credits, Global Lounge Collection access, and elite status with popular hotels, this luxury card isn’t right for everyone. That’s because it comes with a hefty annual fee of $695, which could be difficult to offset unless you travel for business often.

That said, the card_name could hold a lot of value for frequent business travelers who can benefit from its rewards and statement credits. Its many insurance and spending protections can also help ensure you’re covered for things like lost luggage, trip delays, and damaged or stolen purchases.

Pros & cons

  • Up to 5x Membership Rewards on qualifying prepaid hotel and flight purchases
  • Generous welcome offer
  • Over $1,000 in statement credits available
  • American Express Global Lounge Collection access
  • Hilton Honors Gold status and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • High annual fee
  • Good or excellent credit likely required
  • High minimum spend required to earn welcome offer

Who is the card for?

The card_name could be a smart addition to your wallet if you’re a business owner who spends a significant amount on travel. As a card member, you’ll earn up to 5x Membership Rewards for prepaid hotel and flight purchases made through Amex Travel, so frequent business travelers will get the most value from this card’s rewards structure.

The card_name offers a number of statement credits tailored for business owners who travel often, including the following:

  • $400 Dell Technologies credit.
  • $150 Adobe Creative Solutions credit.
  • $360 Indeed credit.
  • $120 wireless credit.
  • $200 airline fee credit.
  • $189 CLEAR Plus credit.

You’ll also get up to $100 in Global Entry or $85 in TSA PreCheck credits when you renew your membership every four or 4.5 years, respectively.

American Express doesn’t disclose its minimum credit score requirements, though top-tier credit cards often require applicants to have good to excellent credit for approval. This likely isn’t the card for you if you’re working on improving your credit.

The card_name ’s array of statement credits is what sets this premium card apart from others. But it also offers several other benefits that appeal to frequent business travelers.

With this card, you’ll earn 5x Membership Rewards points on prepaid hotel and flight purchases you make through the American Express travel portal, 1.5x on purchases in qualifying business categories or eligible purchases over $5,000, and 1x points on all other eligible purchases. This card could make sense if you often book trips through Amex Travel; in fact, given these rewards, it probably doesn’t make financial sense to book outside the portal.

You can redeem your Membership Rewards for travel through Amex Travel, transfer them to one of over a dozen American Express travel partners, and more.

Lounge access

For those interested in relaxing at the airport, the card_name gives you access to more than 1,400 airport lounges in the American Express Global Lounge Collection, including Centurion and Priority Pass Select lounges. A Priority Pass membership can cost as much as $429 annually, so this card’s lounge benefit is a huge value-add.

Travel insurance

Card members also benefit from several insurance coverages to help minimize travel headaches. With this card, you’ll get trip delay, trip interruption and cancellation, baggage, and car rental loss and damage insurance.

Fine Hotels and Resorts benefits

The card_name also gives you access to the Fine Hotels and Resorts Program. Through this program, you’ll get perks like late checkout, free breakfasts for two, early check-in (when available), and room upgrades (when available.)

Elite status

As a cardholder, you’ll get Hilton Honors Gold status and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status for no added cost. These statuses give you extra hotel benefits like late checkout and room upgrades (when available.)

The fine print

  • reg_apr,reg_apr_type : 19.49% to 27.49% (variable)
  • Intro purchase APR: N/A
  • balance_transfer_intro_apr,balance_transfer_intro_duration : N/A
  • Penalty APR: 29.99%

Additional hidden perks

Apart from the obvious, this card also has some hidden perks that make it worth considering, including shopping protections, cellphone protection, and expense management benefits.

Shopping protections

Cardholders get exclusive shopping protections, including extended warranty coverage and purchase protection. This card’s extended warranty coverage tacks on a year of additional protection to manufacturers’ warranties on covered purchases. Its purchase protection covers you for up to $10,000 per occurrence (or $50,000 per calendar year) if an eligible purchase is stolen, damaged, or lost.

Cellphone protection

You’ll also get cellphone protection with this card, which is a fairly uncommon benefit. This protection applies when you pay your monthly bill using your card. You can get up to $800 per claim for eligible devices if they’re damaged and need repairs. There’s a cap of two claims per year.

Expense management

The card_name offers tools and features that simplify expense management. Business owners can get employee cards with a smaller annual fee of $350 per card, and can set spending limits and track spending for each employee. American Express also lets you link card transactions with Quickbooks to make bookkeeping and accounting easier.

Cash flow management

With its Pay Over Time feature, American Express gives cardholders the option to pay for qualifying purchases with interest over time instead of all at once. This card also has no preset spending limit, so you don’t need to worry about hitting your credit limit if your expenses and cash flow fluctuate over time.

What could be improved

The card_name is generally only a good choice for a small subset of people: business owners who spend a lot on travel. Its $695 annual fee makes it a cost-prohibitive option if you don’t fall into this category and can’t use all the perks and credits this card offers.

While this card offers up to 5x in Membership Rewards points for qualifying prepaid hotel and flight purchases, its rewards structure is fairly complex and certain competitors have higher rewards rates on general business and travel purchases. For instance, with the Chase Ink Business Preferred, card members earn 3x points on the first $150,000 spent on shipping, advertising, internet and phone service, and travel purchases each year.

Card Alternatives

Bottom line.

If you’re a frequent business traveler who can benefit from the card_name ’s generous statement credits, this card could be a great choice. While it has a very high annual fee compared to many other business credit cards on the market, its rewards and credits can offset that fee if you spend in the right categories. If you don’t, this card likely won’t be the best option for your wallet. Instead, you might opt for a business travel rewards card with a lower annual fee, such as the Chase Ink Business Preferred or the American Express Business Gold Card.

For rates and fees of the card_name , please visit this URL .

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Is the card_name hard to get.

You can apply for the card_name online through the American Express website. You’ll need to apply with an IRS-issued employer identification number (EIN) if you've registered your business as a corporation or partnership, though you can use your Social Security number if you’re a sole proprietor. You’ll likely need good to excellent credit to qualify.

What is the credit limit on the card_name ?

Unlike most other credit cards, the card_name doesn't have a preset limit. Instead, your credit limit can fluctuate based on your monthly spending.

What are the benefits of card_name ?

The card_name has many benefits for frequent business travelers, including a lucrative welcome offer, decent rewards rate, generous statement credits, travelers insurance, lounge access, cell phone protection, shopping protections, and more.

The information presented here is created independently from the TIME editorial staff. To learn more, see our About page.

IMAGES

  1. American Express Global Business Travel reveals next-gen airline

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  2. International Business Careers that Involve Global Travel

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  4. Editor's Notes: How Travel Became a Global Business-and How Imaging

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  5. American Express Global Business Travel integrates with CHOOOSE

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  6. Global Business and Travel Concept Stock Photo

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VIDEO

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