Travel spending is on track to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024, surpassing US$2 trillion, according to Forrester's Global Travel Market Forecast, 2024 To 2028
This is amid the resurgence of international travel demand in Asia Pacific, says Cindy Liu, forecast analyst at Forrester.
It is important that finance leaders take note of such changes to be able to manage organisational spending in the coming months, as efficient business travel can make way for expansion.
Among the 14 travel markets we examined, China and Japan are among those who have yet to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels. Forecast highlights include:
- China. All eyes are on China, as the world’s largest outbound travel market continues to climb its way out of the pandemic-related travel deficit.
- Online Travel Agencies (OTA) gain market share. The leading seven OTAs accounted for nearly 46% of global online travel spending in 2023, up from 40% in 2022. OTAs leverage their highly variable cost structures to respond to and rebound quickly from market fluctuations. In 2020, Booking Holdings and Expedia cut sales and marketing expenses by more than half to respond to the pandemic sales drop and saw a faster return to growth post-pandemic.
- The travel market will grow faster than the global economy. The global travel market will see 6.0% CAGR between 2024 and 2028. The growth of the middle class, especially in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, will power this growth. Increased workplace flexibility and greater freedom of movement will also play a role: Today, the average passport holder can travel visa-free to as many as 111 countries, nearly double its value in 2006.
