European business travel spending is expected to grow by 7 per cent year on year in 2026 to reach €404 billion as the sector shows “remarkable strength” in the wake of geopolitical turmoil, according to the latest research from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA).
A year ago — before the outbreak of the Iran war in February — GBTA had projected that 2026 would see an 8.2 per cent year-on-year rise in European corporate travel spending.
The 2026 GBTA Global Business Travel Index (BTI) is also predicting more growth in the years ahead, with European corporate travel spending expected to rise by 5.2 per cent to €425 billion in 2027 and then reach €471 billion by 2030. The new forecast was released at the GBTA + VDR + ABTA Conference in Vienna this week.
But while there has been a robust increase in travel spending by European organisations, the number of trips has only grown by 0.7 per cent year on year, with a total volume of around 600 million trips in 2026. This lags the global increase in total business trips of 1.3 per cent this year.
Suzanne Neufang, CEO of GBTA, said: “Europe's business travel sector continues to show remarkable strength and staying power. Even as companies navigate a complex business environment, the forecast shows they continue to place significant value on bringing people together for both external and internal meetings.
“At the same time, the gap between pace of growth in spending versus trip volume means companies and corporate travel managers are increasingly focused on ensuring that every trip delivers value.”
European-based organisations account for 27 per cent of total global business travel spending, which puts the region on a “par” with North America. Globally, business travel spending is expected to rise by 7.2 per cent to €1.52 trillion ($1.71 trillion) in 2026, according to the GBTA. This will be followed by a predicted increase of 5.8 per cent to $1.81 trillion globally in 2027.
Germany continues to be Europe’s largest corporate travel market with spending of €79.9 billion, followed by the UK at £50 billion (€60 billion), France (€45 billion), Italy (€39.5 billion) and Spain (€26.5 billion). These five markets account for 62 per cent of all European business travel spending in 2026.
GBTA’s index shows that London is the top European city for business travel spending with a forecast “direct” expenditure of £11.2 billion (€13.4 billion) this year, followed by Paris (€12.1 billion), Amsterdam (€5 billion), Frankfurt (€4.2 billion) and Madrid (€4.1 billion).
The research also included a global survey of 4,700 business travellers, which found that 74 per cent of Europe-based respondents were taking a similar number or more trips compared with 2025.
Just over one-third (37 per cent) of trips by European travellers were international with the rest being domestic journeys — 57 per cent included an overnight stay and an average European overnight trip lasted 3.6 nights.
The leading reason for travel was to attend client, sales or account management meetings, followed by training, project work, and conferences or conventions.
The survey results also highlighted the importance of ground transport in Europe with 43 per cent travelling by car, 34 per cent by air and 25 per cent taking trains.
Demand for “blended” travel remains high, with more than half (55 per cent) of European travellers saying they planned to combine business travel and a personal trip during 2026.