APAC Business Travel Tops $700B as Corporate Trips Roar Back

Asia Pacific is expected to remain the world’s largest business travel region in 2026.

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released the forecast at its APAC Conference in Singapore. Business travel spending in the region is expected to reach $700.9 billion, up 10.9 percent from the previous year.

APAC is driving the global business travel recovery

The forecast shows that companies in Asia Pacific are still spending on work-related travel, even as costs and risks remain high. Business trips are important for meetings, conferences, client visits, factory inspections, and regional operations. These are areas where video calls often cannot fully replace in-person contact.

China leads, while other markets also grow

China is expected to remain the biggest business travel market in Asia Pacific, with $408 billion in spending in 2026. That represents about 58 percent of the region’s total. But the growth is not only coming from China. Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Singapore are also expected to post strong year-over-year growth.

The five largest APAC markets, China, Japan, South Korea, India, and Australia, are forecast to generate $623.2 billion in business travel spending. GBTA said this would represent just over 40 percent of the global 2026 business travel forecast of $1.69 trillion.

Singapore shows the local value of business travel

GBTA also used Singapore as an example of how business travel supports local economies. In 2024, business travel to and within Singapore generated $8.1 billion in industry-driven revenue. It also supported 33,636 jobs and contributed $1.3 billion in taxes.

This impact reaches beyond hotels and airlines. Business travelers spend on restaurants, taxis, meeting venues, event services, retail, and other local businesses. GBTA said 56 percent of every business travel dollar spent in Singapore stays in the local economy.

Companies are still cautious about the rest of 2026

The outlook is positive, but travel managers are not ignoring the risks. GBTA’s April survey showed that optimism among APAC travel professionals fell from 56 percent in January to 46 percent in April. Pessimism stayed close to 25 percent.

Higher travel costs, geopolitical uncertainty, and safety concerns can affect budgets and trip approvals. Travel that clearly supports revenue, operations, or important partnerships will likely remain easier to justify.

Recently, Amex GBT’s latest quarterly results showed that the company’s total transaction value rose 54 percent, and transaction growth increased 41 percent. That story points to the same broader trend: corporate travel is not only recovering, but becoming a stronger part of the travel market again.

As APAC spending grows, travel management companies, airlines, hotels, and meeting providers will likely compete more aggressively for business travelers and corporate clients.

Photo by Joseph Chan on Unsplash