But what does that actually translate to when it comes to meeting and event planning?

Global business travel spend is forecast to climb 7.2% this year, hitting around $1.71 trillion, following an 8.4% jump in 2025, according to the Global Business Travel Association’s  2026 Business Travel Index (BTI), produced with Rockport Analytics. While the report, which tracks corporate travel spending and volume across 72 countries, reflects transient business travel rather than group meetings and events, the driving forces shaping that market — pricing pressure, geopolitical risk and shifting domestic/international sentiment — look awfully familiar to meeting and event planners.

Here’s what the numbers suggest for North American meeting programs this year.

Spending is up, but trip volume barely moved. That 7.2% growth is an impressive stat, but GBTA also found that the number of actual trips taken is projected to grow just 1.3%. In other words, nearly all of this year’s spending increase is coming from higher prices, not more travel activity — a dynamic that will feel familiar to any planner who has watched hotel and airfare quotes climb while headcounts stayed flat.

The news planners can take away from this projection is as unsurprising as it is unwelcome: You can expect travel costs per attendee to keep rising in 2026, even if attendance itself holds steady. The index’s forecast pegs global business travel to grow at a more moderate 5.8% for 2027, suggesting this isn’t a one-year blip but the start of a multi-year normalization toward smaller, steadier increases through 2030.

North America is a relative bright spot. While the Middle East conflict, airspace disruptions and energy-price spikes are dragging down the outlook in the Middle East, Asia and Europe, the Americas are described as an area where “stronger economic growth is overshadowing price pressures.” The U.S. market, the world’s largest at a projected $423 billion in business travel spending for 2026, is getting a lift from heavy technology and AI-related corporate investment. Canada is growing even faster on a percentage basis, forecast at 9.2%.

For cities and properties courting corporate meetings and incentive business, that combination — strong underlying investment plus comparatively lower geopolitical exposure — is a genuine selling point for U.S. and Canadian destinations right now, particularly against European or Middle East-adjacent alternatives where suppliers report the sharpest pressure from instability and airline disruption.

Domestic programs may be an easier sell than international ones. The traveler survey embedded in the report — more than 4,700 business travelers across 66 markets — found a meaningful split in 2026 sentiment: Domestic travel expectations registered a net positive outlook (those planning to travel more minus those planning to travel less), while international travel expectations were net negative. Attendees appear more willing to commit to domestic trips than cross-border ones this year.

That’s a useful data point when building the case for a domestic conference or incentive program over an international one, or when anticipating softer registration for international attendee segments at U.S.-based events.

What attendees are actually spending, and where. The survey put average spending at $875 per business trip globally, with air transportation and lodging together accounting for 52% of total trip cost — the two line items planners already spend the most time negotiating. Asia Pacific travelers reported the highest per-trip spend ($1,013); European travelers the lowest ($712), a gap worth keeping in mind when budgeting for international delegations.

A few findings on how attendees pay and book are also relevant to housing blocks and registration systems:

• 65% of companies require or encourage employees to book through a travel management company or corporate booking tool, and 62% of reservations actually flow through those company-managed channels — reinforcing why TMC-friendly booking links and clean rate-loading still matter for group business.

• 68% of travelers have a corporate card, but a third of them said they’ve had to fall back on a personal card specifically to cover hotel costs — a reminder that deposit and incidentals policies at the front desk can create friction even for well-managed accounts.

• Rail usage is high in Europe (60%) and especially Asia Pacific (72%), a contrast planners sourcing outside North America should factor into transportation planning, since rail plays a much smaller role in U.S. and Canadian itineraries.

The risk factors planners are already tracking, confirmed. GBTA’s April 2026 outlook poll found geopolitical instability and airline disruption are currently the top-rated travel risks, with suppliers saying those same two issues are putting the most pressure on their businesses — concentrated most heavily in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Middle East business travel volume specifically is forecast to decline nearly 12% in 2026, tied directly to the regional conflict’s effect on airspace and energy prices.

For planners with sites in or attendee populations tied to those regions, this validates building extra schedule flexibility, contingency destinations and clear force majeure language into contracts this year — not as a hypothetical, but as a response to a trend suppliers are already citing as their top pressure point.

Note: This article is based on the GBTA 2026 Business Travel Index — Annual Global Report & Forecast, Executive Summary (GBTA and Rockport Analytics, August 2026), available for free download to nonmembers. The full report is available as an exclusive benefit for GBTA members.