The economy continues to improve and because of this, businesses are willing to plan large group meetings or special events to connect with their customers and facilitate collaboration and innovation. The requests for meeting space and group travel is increasing. In 2014, spending on group business travel ($126.5 billion) exceeded spending on individual business travel for the first time since 2008. The BTN Outlook predicts that group trip volume will grow 3.3 percent in 2016, and spending on group business travel is expected to grow 2.7 percent.