Building the Blocks of Business Travel in China’s Fast Growing Economy

In the last five years, China has become the third largest and one of the world’s fastest growing business travel markets. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), China’s T&E expenses are valued at US$10 billion, of which US$5 billion are business travel expenses.

Apart from the key Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, places such as Shenzhen, Suzhou, Dongguan, Shenyang and Tianjin are emerging as major secondary cities for corporate travel.

Business travel will continue to show an upward trend with China’s strong GDP growth, expanding economic activities, continued huge inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI), World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, continued liberalization, more developed legal and financial framework, as well as major events such as the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

The first Corporate Travel & Technology World China (CT&TW China), which took place on 23-25 April 2007 in Shanghai, brought together 300 corporate travel professionals and suppliers from 11 countries including China, the rest of Asia-Pacific, UK and United States for education and networking opportunities.

Jointly organized by the US-based National Business Travel Association (NBTA) and TTG Asia Media, the seminar sessions looked at how travel management can drive value in the expanding Chinese market, trends in China, travel distribution and understanding the market.

For the second year, NBTA and TTG Asia will host CT&TW China 2008 in Shanghai to continue to capitalize on China’s exponential growth and fast-growing business travel market.

CT&TW China will bring together top business travel professionals from China, US and Asia Pacific countries.  Conducted simultaneously in English and Chinese, the conference will feature leading international industry experts, cutting-edge education seminars, and numerous networking opportunities with global colleagues.

The Exhibitor & Technology Showcase is an excellent platform to promote advanced and new products and technologies to this important market.

Whether you have established connections or are looking to make new business contacts in China, participation at the China CT&TW offers your company the opportunity to reach and influence important Chinese and global players and buyers.

Forecast

• By 2020, China is expected to be the world’s largest economy
• By 2020, China is expected to attract more than 137 million overseas business travelers, accounting for 8.6 per cent of the world’s international travel market. 
• Between 2008-2017, the annualized real growth of business travel for China is 9.7 per cent. 
• In 2007, China is expected to spend US$46,798.9 million on business travel. By 2017, China is expected to spend US$176,233.5 million on business travel.

State of the industry

• China is currently the fourth largest economy in the world
• Shanghai is the business travel hub with about 60 per cent of its arrivals related to business.
• The portion of Chinese corporate travel that could be considered “managed” is as low as 10 per cent
• 42 new airports will open in China in the next five years
• 40 percent of current Airbus and Boeing orders are from Chinese carriers
• Online booking and implementation of online booking tools for corporate travel are both low
• Corporate travel policies are not widely implemented
• There is only one global distribution system in China
• Credit card usage and online purchasing are not common