A large majority (86%) of global business travel buyers and travel suppliers surveyed said that business travel performed on par or better than they anticipated in 2024, according to the latest GBTA Business Travel Industry Outlook Poll. 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.

Suzanne Neufang, CEO, said the findings “illustrate an industry at a pivotal point.”
Business travel, she said, “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.”

Now in its 35th edition, the poll reflects responses from almost 900 business travel professionals worldwide. Key findings include:

* 93% of travel buyers and 79% of travel suppliers believe the sector has met or exceeded their expectations, despite variable economic and operational conditions.

• 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) predicts an increase in 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%).
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. Roughly 3 in 5 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 with 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 versus last year.

Challenges Ahead

* Cost control remains paramount, cited by more than 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 Important

• 46% of travel professionals said 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, 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 travelers’ sustainable selections going forward.
  
  * Respondents based in Europe (61%) and Asia-Pacific (64%) were more likely to say sustainability is a high priority than respondents based in North America (34%). At the same time, 60% of buyers in Europe, versus 36% in North America, have already integrated sustainability into their travel programs, reflecting regional differences in commitment (and available options) to environmental strategies.

Technology Adoption and AI Integration

• 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. More than 2 in 5 GBTA respondents (44%, up from 32% last year) say they are excited about the impact of AI on the business travel industry, while 1 in 4 (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 eight-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 toward recognizing AI’s critical value.

NDC Implementation

• 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 NDC content implementation and are now offering NDC content to their clients, half (52%) encountered challenges, signaling a complex transition but with a noticeable movement toward 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. There is stronger implementation/adoption in Europe (54%) and Asia-Pacific (50%) than in North America (45%) and Latin America (29%).