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You’re probably taking more business trips this year

By
Benjamin Snyder
Benjamin Snyder
Managing Editor
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By
Benjamin Snyder
Benjamin Snyder
Managing Editor
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 13, 2015, 12:01 AM ET
A Delta Air Lines plane taxis toward a gate between other De
UNITED STATES - JULY 20: A Delta Air Lines plane taxis toward a gate between other Delta planes at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, U.S., on Monday, July 20, 2009. Delta Air Lines Inc., based in Atlanta since 1941, is promoting itself as New York city's "hometown carrier" with mojitos in Manhattan and sponsorships of the Yankees and Mets baseball teams. (Photo by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Photograph by Daniel Acker — Bloomberg/Getty Images

If you travel a lot for business, you might be racking up a lot more miles in the air in 2015.

Business travel spending is expected to increase 6.2% this year, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the Global Business Travel Association, a trade group for the corporate travel industry.

“This is especially important, given that US business travel spending is a good indicator for the direction of the U.S. economy,” the GBTA said in a statement.

The report comes just days after a series of terror attacks in Paris that threatens travel to Europe, a hot spot for tourists and business travelers alike. However, Fortune spoke with a variety of travel experts who suggested that any impact wouldn’t last for long and that business would essentially continue as usual thereafter.

The association expects the volume of trips globally to increase 1.7% this year to 490.4 million trips in 2015. There were an estimated 482.4 million trips in 2014, a 1.4% growth over the previous year.

Last year saw a 6% increase in business travel spending, a welcome sign after the recent struggle during the financial downturn. The report called 2014 a “comeback year for international outbound business travel” after a meager 1.1% increase in 2013 and a 1% decline a year earlier.

The report predicted, too, that steeply declining oil prices could be a boon for the travel industry in 2015 because of potentially cheaper airfares.

“Oil prices have plunged since June, creating favorable conditions,” according to the GBTA.

Also helping to drive an expected increase in travel is an improving U.S. economy and greater profits for business in 2015. The more growth and profits, of course, the more travel.

Additionally, the U.S. dollar is gaining strength, while the global economy remains weak, according to the report. “By way of a small silver lining, however, a rising dollar also makes international outbound business travel less expensive.”

About the Author
By Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor
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Benjamin Snyder is Fortune's managing editor, leading operations for the newsroom.

Prior to rejoining Fortune, he was a managing editor at Business Insider and has worked as an editor for Bloomberg, LinkedIn and CNBC, covering leadership stories, sports business, careers and business news. He started his career as a breaking news reporter at Fortune in 2014.

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