Business travel in the second quarter continued “incremental growth” and was set to continue to increase for the balance of 2024, according to FCM Consulting’s Global Quarterly Trend Report, released Thursday. Meanwhile, most average airfares throughout the world rose year over year, according to the travel management company.
Economy airfares in 2024 through May on average increased about 15 percent year over year globally, about $65, according to the report, which is based on FCM’s corporate booking data. Business-class airfares, meanwhile, increased about 11 percent year over year, about $209, in that same January-May timeframe.
Some pockets of pricing softness emerged: second-quarter international economy fares from the U.S. declined an average of 8.8 percent year over year, “a welcome sign for corporate travelers that often do business overseas,” according to FCM.
The average daily hotel room rate logged by FCM’s corporate clients in the first half of 2024 in most global regions declined year over year, including by $13 in North America to $237 and by $11 in Europe to $180. Overall, the first-half average room rate across FCM’s top 100 corporate cities reported by FCM Consulting’s business analytics team was $182, down $5 year over year.
Generally speaking, business air and lodging demand remained solid in Q2, according to FCM.
“It’s encouraging to see the steady upward trajectory for business travel and the way the industry continues to demonstrate consistent and positive growth throughout the year,” said Ashley Gutermuth, Head of FCM Consulting, Americas. “This trend signifies the increased demand we are seeing for in-person meetings and events and the ongoing commitment to foster and build strong, meaningful relationships through business travel.”
Still, the report, while projecting further business travel growth, highlighted the uncertainty of future pricing projections, noting that “geopolitical unrest” and “economic uncertainty” would “continue to impact travel industry forecasts through the rest of 2024.”
“This Q2-2024 report represents six months of positive travel industry momentum, which is somewhat difficult to forecast for H2-2024,” according to the report.