New research has revealed the countries that spend the most on business travel. The top two spots are fairly predictable given the size of the economies in question, but the countries ranking beneath them may surprise some.
The reliability of business travel predictions have been thrown into disarray recently with the war currently waging in the Middle East. Just as Gulf nations like the UAE and Saudi Arabia were growing economically and becoming business travel hubs in their own right, the war between the USA, Israel and Iran has entirely disrupted that trajectory.
With that said, all countries in the top ten are located outside the Middle East, and as of yet largely unaffected as destinations by the chaos in Iran and surrounding countries.
The top 10
Here are the top ten countries for business travel spend, according to new data by Booking.com for Business.
| Rank | Country | Spend |
| 1 | United States | £297.4bn |
| 2 | China | £289.6bn |
| 3 | Germany | £60.2bn |
| 4 | Japan | £55.9bn |
| 5 | United Kingdom | £45.2bn |
| 6 | France | £35.2bn |
| 7 | South Korea | £33.6bn |
| 8 | India | £32.3bn |
| 9 | Italy | £30bn |
| 10 | Brazil | £22.8bn |
- America
The USA, unsurprisingly, takes the top spot on this list. With a vast economy and large amounts of space in between economic hubs (like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Los Angeles), the country lends itself naturally to airborne business travel.
- China
China comes in at a close second. While we do not have data confirm, we imagine that much of business travel expenditure in China is to neighbouring countries, as well as domestically within China. China has been signing pacts and agreements with countries in Southeast Asia and beyond. China is deeply embedded in supply chains across the world, and particularly in the nearby region.
Director of business travel at Booking.com for Business Joshua Wood commented: “For businesses, knowing which routes carry the highest volumes of inbound trips is more than a nice‑to‑know statistic – it points SMEs to the corridors with the best connections, backup options, and on‑the‑ground facilities, and the ones where they can often secure better fares and rates.”
