AC

Europe's economic woes are putting a chill on U.S. business travel more so than the higher airfares and hotel rates that many corporate trekkers are paying this year. That's the latest assessment out Tuesday from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), which predicts spending on corporate trips will only rise 2.2% this year in comparison to 2011. That's 1.4 percentage points less than what the GBTA previously forecast in the spring. The continuing economic crisis in Europe is most likely to blame for a slowdown, says Michael McCormick, executive director of the GBTA, an organization of business travel and meeting managers. . "International travel is still the biggest driver of whatever growth we are seeing in business travel expenditures,'' he says. "But … it's growing at a slower and slower rate.'' Corporate hotel bookings have already dipped. In May, the most recent month available, they were down 5.7% globally and 8.8% in North America compared to a year ago,...