Middle East business travel spending to grow by CAGR of 6.1% in 2025: GBTA
Consultants gathered on the new Enterprise Occasions Stage throughout the Arabian Journey Market (ATM) 2025, a part of the newly launched IBTM@ATM Zone, to debate how regional enterprise journey spending is adapting in response to those world shifts and to discover the monetary outlook driving strategic developments throughout the sector.
In partnership with the International Enterprise Journey Affiliation (GBTA), the session titled State of the Nation: Navigating the Way forward for Enterprise Journey within the Center East supplied an intensive evaluation of the market dynamics influencing company journey budgets and decision-making processes at this time.
Catherine Logan, Regional Senior Vice President EMEA and APAC, International Enterprise Journey Affiliation (GBTA), mentioned: “Generally, the argument for enterprise journey in 2025 is robust, however transformational change will proceed to affect how we journey for work around the globe. These embody financial stability, finances elements, how and the place we work, implications of know-how, the evolution of sustainability in enterprise journey and the deal with the traveller.”
Logan additionally highlights that sustainably managed enterprise journey is a drive for good, driving progress for companies, governments, economies and other people.
In line with the 2024 GBTA Enterprise Journey Index Outlook Report, the Center East accounts for 1.2% of world enterprise journey spend and has carried out higher than another area post-COVID with spend reaching 19.4% increased than pre-COVID ranges. The estimated enterprise journey spending within the Center East was $18.1 billion in 2024 and is anticipated to develop at a CAGR of 6.1% in 2025, highlighting the area’s strategic significance within the world company journey and occasions ecosystem.
Ciaran Kelly, Managing Director of Center East & Africa, FCM Journey, mentioned: “There’s a optimistic outlook for enterprise journey within the area, backed by tendencies we’re seeing from our prospects, surveys, and what our forecasts are for the yr forward. Lots of the expansion is because of the private and non-private tasks going down – it’s virtually unattainable to get a seat on a aircraft from Dubai to Riyadh, for instance, and when you land, resort availability is restricted. Resort occupancy throughout the area is the best globally, round 70-80% mark placing loads of stress on accommodations, however generally, the whole lot is optimistic.”
Reflecting on the importance of the session, Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Journey Market, mentioned: “Understanding the shifts in enterprise journey spending is important for firms that need to stay aggressive and resilient in a fast-evolving market. Classes like this at IBTM@ATM are essential for offering our attendees with actionable insights and real-world evaluation, empowering them to navigate shifting journey patterns and uncover new alternatives within the Center East and past.”
The Enterprise Occasions Stage at IBTM@ATM will proceed to discover rising tendencies throughout enterprise journey, MICE, and company occasions till Wednesday, 30 April. The classes will cowl varied matters, together with the mixing of AI and future-proofing methods for enterprise journey, the human connection versus AI in occasion experiences, new tendencies in Chinese language outbound MICE journey, reaching web zero carbon emissions within the occasions trade, and advancing local weather motion by way of strategic partnerships in enterprise journey, amongst different matters.
The 32nd version of Arabian Journey Market, held below the theme ‘International Journey: Creating Tomorrow’s Tourism By means of Enhanced Connectivity’, will welcome greater than 55,000 journey professionals from 166 nations this week on the Dubai World Commerce Centre (DWTC), reinforcing Dubai’s pivotal function as a centre for world tourism and enterprise collaboration.
Held along with DWTC, ATM’s strategic companions embody Dubai’s Division of Financial system and Tourism (DET), Vacation spot Companion; Emirates, Official Airline Companion; IHG Resorts & Resorts, Official Resort Companion; and Al Rais Journey, Official DMC Companion.