The story for business travel in 4Q2025 and into 2026 is one of resilience. Suzanne Neufang, GBTA CEO, talks about how the industry continues to flourish by focusing on strategic relationships and making data-driven decisions
What are your predictions for corporate travel volume and spending in 4Q2025 and 1Q2026, both globally and for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region?
By the end of this year, global business travel spending is expected to reach US$1.6 trillion. This represents 6.6 per cent growth on 2024, which, in the context of broad uncertainty and economic risk, is promising. Come 2026, we expect growth to further rebound and reach 8.1 per cent as regions stabilise and adapt.
The APAC region shows some of the strongest signs of growth, according to our latest GBTA forecast. By the end of 2025, business travel spend in APAC is expected to reach US$679 billion, which is a 10.9 per cent increase on 2024. Five of the top 15 markets for spending are in APAC – China, Japan, South Korea, India and Australia – with China ranking second to the US.
What key macroeconomic factors will have the most impact on corporate travel in the foreseeable future?
There are a variety of factors impacting the business travel industry. Among these, US policies and government actions are causing a ripple effect across the global travel landscape.
This includes concerns around traveller mobility and safety, willingness to travel, and the cancellation or relocation of meetings and events as a result. Eighteen percent of global industry respondents to our GBTA poll in June say they have cancelled US-based meetings, and 24 per cent shifted meetings online.
Additionally, industry professionals say their companies are meeting with new suppliers and vendors based outside of the US, with 53 per cent of APAC respondents in our poll saying they are actively doing so. This shows even in the face of uncertainty, the industry is finding ways to adapt – and that in the short-term, potentially even more cross-border, cross-region travel is happening to allow companies to counteract current trade war impacts.
That said, we’ve recently released information about the return on investment (ROI) of business travel – for US and UK.
In our findings, all industries are leaving sales revenue unrealised by not meeting enough in person with customers, prospects and partners.
Even in economic uncertainty, it’s important for organisations to keep their critical employees travelling to not adversely impact their overall business performance.
Are there any specific industry sectors or business functions that you expect to drive the majority of corporate travel in 4Q2025 and 1Q2026? Conversely, are there any sectors where you foresee a decline?
At the global level, business travel spending continues to vary across sectors, and we can expect this to be the case as we enter 2026. Trade-sensitive sectors such as Manufacturing (which accounts for nearly one-third of global business spending) and Wholesale Trade face heightened risks if trade tensions further escalate.
However, service sectors like Arts & Entertainment and Professional Services have exceeded pre-pandemic benchmarks, with some growing travel spend by over 20 per cent.
Looking ahead, Mining and Information and Communication sectors are each expected to post the strongest growth in business travel spend, while Agriculture faces the weakest outlook amid shrinking access to export markets.
How do you see the bleisure trend evolving?
We expect bleisure – or blended trips – to continue to be prominent as a trend. In a GBTA poll, 46 per cent of travel buyers said their employees were extending business trips with a personal element more than they did a year prior.
As bleisure continues to rise, I would expect satisfaction on business trips, and their efficiency, to rise along with it.
Companies that are able to recognise the role that travel – both for work and for leisure – has in enhancing employee satisfaction will stand to gain an edge. Enabling individuals to have more work-life balance by spending time with family, friends and exploring new places can be integrated into business travel policies, and it will be important for companies to adapt.
What opportunities do you see for innovation and growth within the corporate travel industry?
Collaboration has always advanced our industry and enabled us to collectively navigate the change and complexity that arises.
One example for GBTA is our Sustainability Acceleration Challenge, now in its second year. In partnership with Accenture, the Challenge is designed to help companies better understand and innovate in their sustainability programmes while pushing our industry forward on decarbonisation.
Last year, over 240 companies with a combined business travel spend of US$14 billion participated, highlighting the importance of cross-industry collaboration. This goes alongside other initiatives like the GBTA Sustainable Procurement Standards developed by, and for, our industry, which provides organisations with a blueprint to create meaningful change.
What are the biggest challenges facing corporate travel managers and companies in 2026?
First is the challenge of justifying travel spend for what it returns in company revenue and profits. During times of economic uncertainty, companies and their leaders may be tempted to cut corporate travel budgets before realising how it would negatively impact their bottom line over the longer term.
Companies and their travel managers who understand the “why” behind each business trip are the most likely to be able to right-size their travel budgets and trips for the moment, without blindly cutting.
Second, they need to help create a blended ecosystem of travel decision-making and enablement – from the time of trip planning, through booking and payment, and then all the way through to reimbursement of the trip expenses.
Understanding a company’s culture, related policies, system and data reporting requirements, and how travel fits into the overall company architecture of employee tools and services can take a fair amount of time and resources. Keeping a programme up to date and modern can be a major challenge for companies who made programme and system decisions many years ago – and for whom change is difficult.
What advice would you give to corporate travel managers or businesses preparing their travel strategies for 2026?
The year 2025 saw us enter the next era of business travel. For 2026 and beyond, the mantra will be the same: travel smarter and stay ahead.
Travel managers will need to embrace agility and data-driven decision-making as core pillars of their travel strategy. Running smart, efficient operations will continue to be a priority. Building flexible policies that can adapt to changing circumstances while optimising travel spend, enhancing traveller satisfaction, and ensuring duty of care will also be key.
Additionally, understanding traveller preferences and behaviours, and what motivates them, will be needed for effective, efficient business travel. In APAC, if travellers are taking on average six trips per year, what can be done to make sure those are the most productive, purposeful and enjoyable they can be?
The value of business travel is clear, including as a strategic driver of growth. Our research shows the right investment in spending can reap major returns for businesses. And, on average, 86 per cent of business travellers consider their trips to be valuable for reaching their goals.
The most successful programmes in 2026 will be those that balance cost-efficiency with people- and purpose-driven travel – and implement systems which enable that.
