Optimistic Plans for Growth, Technology and Sustainability in 2025

As 2024 draws to a close, there is strong sentiment from the global business travel industry that the year outperformed expectations, paving the way for increased budgets, strategic investments and growth initiatives for 2025. This is according to a new research poll by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) where 86% of global business travel buyers and travel suppliers surveyed said that business travel performed on par or better than they anticipated in 2024.

Additionally, with 67% of professionals stating their general outlook is optimistic for the industry’s future, the results suggest a strong desire for business travel expansion in 2025. This underscores the industry’s resilience and adaptability over the past few years, and highlights an increased focus ahead on budgets, technology and sustainability, even as companies navigate rising travel costs and evolving traveler preferences.

“GBTA’s findings illustrate an industry at a pivotal point. Business travel is more than rebounding, it’s transforming — driven by the need to manage costs and risk, ensure strong traveler productivity and experience, and drive responsible growth. As 2025 approaches, industry leaders are balancing expansion with accountability, looking to harness new technology, trip trends and sustainable practices to enable business travel to continue to deliver incredible value in a rapidly changing world,” says Suzanne Neufang, CEO of GBTA.

Now in its 35^th edition, the poll (fielded from October 7-18, 2024) reflects responses from almost 900 business travel professionals worldwide, offering significant insights into the trends, challenges and future expectations for global business travel.

Here are some of the key findings from the GBTA Business Travel Industry Outlook Poll:

Positive Sentiment and Optimism, Now and Ahead

When asked how they thought the business travel sector has fared in 2024, survey results reveal that 93% of travel buyers and 79% of travel suppliers believe the sector has met or exceeded their expectations, despite variable economic and operational conditions.

As business travel professionals prepare for the new year, two-thirds (67%) report an optimistic outlook. Only 6% are pessimistic. North America and Latin America lead this optimistic sentiment, at 71% and 72%, respectively. Buyers, in particular, report more confidence than suppliers, with 71% of buyers expressing optimism for 2025, compared with 62% for suppliers.

While travel programs are keeping an eye on the economy, few plan to limit business travel next year. Over half (55%) are unlikely or are not seriously considering limiting business travel in 2025. Only 17% are limiting business travel because of economic concerns.

A rising share of buyers (52%, up from 44% in 2023) predict an increase in their corporate travel budgets to support customer-facing meetings, sales initiatives, conferences and internal collaborations. Some 7% expect budgets to be “significantly” higher. Only 16% of buyers anticipate reduced budgets, demonstrating a continuing, clear commitment to in-person engagement in 2025.

Asked to select up to three top factors driving their optimism for the year ahead, business travel buyers and suppliers most commonly say easing travel costs/corporate budgets keeping pace (46%), improving economy/inflation reduction (44%) and increased traveler confidence/more requests for travel (40%).

Emerging Patterns and Preferences of Business Travelers

The survey also reflects ongoing shifts in traveler preferences. The trend of “blended travel” — combining work trips with leisure purposes − continues to be on the rise, with almost half of buyers (46%) saying employees at their company are taking more “bleisure” trips today than they did a year ago. Only 9% say employees are taking fewer blended trips.

In-person meetings continue to bounce back. Three in five buyers (59%) say their company’s employees are attending more in-person meetings and conferences now than they did a year ago. Additionally, 45% of travel buyers said their employees wanted to travel more this year compared to 2023.

“Linked” business trips that combine multiple meetings and/or stops in a single trip continue to increase. Over half of buyers (53%) say their company’s employees are taking more linked trips than they did a year ago. However, day trips for business are on the decline while trip duration increases. A larger number of buyers report seeing fewer day trips (27%) over the past year than more day trips (21%). Additionally, over a third of buyers (36%) report longer duration of trips vs. last year.

Challenges Ahead: Cost, Compliance and Complexities

The survey reveals that balancing ambitious goals with practical constraints will be a central challenge in 2025. Companies must navigate budget limitations alongside pressures for technological and sustainable transformation. Cost control remains paramount, cited by three-quarters of travel buyers (78%) as one of the most important strategic priorities for their program next year, alongside traveler safety (65%) and return on investment of travel (49%).

In terms of the most significant barriers travel managers are anticipating next year, the top concern by far is rising travel costs and budgets not keeping pace (74%), followed by technology evolution (40%) and employee travel program compliance (40%).

Sustainability Remains a Complex but Critical Focus

For 2024, 46% of travel professionals say sustainability was a high priority, with 44% already integrating sustainability initiatives into their programs. However, travel buyers say obstacles remain, as 75% cite higher costs as a barrier, along with concerns about complexity (not knowing where to begin), ambiguous emissions measurement standards and traveler inconvenience.

Travel buyers also saw gains in employees making more sustainable travel choices, with one-third reporting a year-over-year increase in rail/train travel (38%) and multimodal trips (33%). Europe leads all regions in these metrics, showing that availability of practical rail options is a table stake in enabling a further rise in traveler sustainable selections going forward.

Technology Adoption and AI Integration Remain a Top Priority

With digital transformation as a priority, nearly half (49%) of travel programs plan to ramp up investments in technology. Yet challenges persist — budget constraints, integration issues and data security remain significant hurdles that organizations must address to realize technology’s full potential.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining traction as a core component of strategic operational enhancement within the industry. Two in five GBTA respondents (44%, up from 32% last year) say they are excited about the impact of AI on the business travel industry, while one in four (23%) feel it is too early to determine the impact of AI.

The poll finds only 14% of buyers currently use AI in their travel programs, but this marks an 8-point increase from the previous year, suggesting a heightening interest and adoption rate. While important, AI is not a top priority for 34% of buyer participants, and 26% view it as a low or no priority, though there is a noticeable shift towards recognizing AI’s value.

Navigating NDC Implementation Challenges and Opportunities

New distribution capability (NDC) stands out as a critical area where the industry’s push for innovation meets practical challenges. While 29% of travel management companies, online booking tools and global distribution systems report smooth new distribution capability content implementation and are now offering NDC content to their clients, half (52%) encountered challenges, signaling a complex transition, but with a noticeable movement towards broader acceptance.

The buyers’ journey towards NDC adoption reflects a mixture of enthusiasm and hurdles, with 16% citing a seamless implementation and 31% facing challenges. This delineates a landscape of cautious optimism, and the recognition of NDC as an essential, but challenging evolution in travel distribution.