GTMC chief executive Paul Wait has urged businesses to change their mindset on travel spend, at the guild's annual conference in Barcelona.
He said business travel budgets should be moved out of finance and into commercial departments: "Travel policies should measure revenue production, not just costs," he said.
Wait cited UKTI (UK Trade & Investment) figures showing every £1 spent on promoting export business generates a £25 return. A UKTI survey showed the biggest barrier to exports for business was lack of contacts (30 per cent of respondents gave this reason.
Wait compared this to Oxford Economics research showing every £1 spent on business travel returned £12, and that aviation contributes £50 billion to UK GDP and provides 920,000 jobs.
Of the GTMC's role in political lobbying, he said: "We need to get cross-party interest in lobbying for an export-led recovery."
Meanwhile, John Rosling, CEO of business performance consultants Shirlaws, told delegates that analysis of more than 100 years of economic patterns indicated ann imminent return to a sustained growth period.
However, we warned that the growth would be "hesitant and uneven", until UK PLC regained the confidence to start investing the £750 billion it holds in current account cash.
Rosling said business owners should re-evaluate their assets, including motivating and retaining talent within their organisations. He said losing key people that companies had invested in was one of the "most disruptive" factors that can damage a business, and he quoted author Simon Sinek: "When people believe in what you believe in, they work with their blood, sweat and tears. When they don't believe in what you believe in, they work for your money."