GBTA Foundation report reveals business travel impact on Mexican economy and jobs. Business travel spending in Mexico totaled $263.2 billion pesos in 2015 and contributed $273.5 billion pesos to Mexico’s GDP.
MEXICO CITY – A new report issued today by the GBTA Foundation at GBTA Conference 2016 Mexico highlights the positive economic impact that road warriors have on the nation’s economy and explores the quantitative impact business travel has on the Mexican economy. The study, sponsored by Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), reveals business travel spending in Mexico in 2015 reached $263.2 billion pesos ($15 billion U.S. dollars) making it responsible for 1.4 per cent of Mexican GDP.
The impact study also found businesses sent travelers on the road in Mexico for 17.2 million domestic business trips. The business travel industry supports 1.2 million jobs, $70.4 billion pesos in wages and salaries and also generates $71.2 billion pesos in federal and state level taxes.
“Business travel has proven time and again to be a major economic driver,” said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO. “This study shows that to be true once again as for every 1 percent increase in business travel spending in Mexico, the Mexican economy gains $2.6 billion pesos and 11, 800 jobs. Nothing can replace face-to-face interactions when it comes to getting business done, so it comes as no surprise the huge impact the business travel industry has on Mexico’s economy.”
“IHG believes companies distinguish themselves by their strong focus on analyzing traveler´s tendencies and by taking a proactive approach based on these to become and maintain a position as a leader in the industry,” said Gerardo Murray, Vice President Brands and Marketing for Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, IHG. “The Mexican market without a doubt, is one of the most important in Latin America and this research allows companies to refine their strategy to approach consumers of this key economy in a more efficient way.”
More study highlights include:
- In 2015, business travelers in Mexico spent an average of $11,472 pesos per trip including $3,356 on airfare, $3,331 on lodging, $956 on ground transportation, $2,027 on food and beverage in restaurants, $508 on entertainment and $1,294 on shopping and merchandise.
- Air is the primary means of transportation for the majority (68 percent) of business trips in Mexico. Nearly 7 in 10 (69.2 percent) Mexican business trips were taken for individual business purposes such as sales trips, client services trips or government and military travel, while 30.8 percent were taken for group travel purposes including conventions, group training and seminars.
- Business travel in Mexico contributed $273.5 billion pesos in Mexican GDP – essentially every dollar spent on business travel generated about $1.04 in GDP.
- Total trip volume grew 7.1 percent in 2015 and total spending by business travelers grew by 9.9 percent.
- Business trips were well distributed throughout the country in 2015 with only the South-Central Mexico region receiving an outsized proportion of business travel volume.
- Mexican business travelers are likely to be mid-career (age 35-54). Business travelers have an average monthly household income of $59,783 pesos, 61 percent are men and 82 percent have obtained a bachelor’s degree or higher. While Mexican business travel occurs across a diverse range of industries, those working in education and training had the largest share of business travel activity in Mexico (12 percent).
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
