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Optimistic plans for growth, technology and sustainability

As 2024 draws to a close, there is strong sentiment within the global business travel industry that the year exceeded expectations, paving the way for increased budgets, strategic investments and growth initiatives in 2025. That’s according to a new research survey from Global Business 86% of global business travel buyers and travel suppliers say business travel will perform better than they expected in 2024, according to the Travel and Tourism Association (GBTA) survey Equal or better.

Additionally, 67% of professionals said they were optimistic about the overall future of the industry, with results indicating a strong desire for business travel to expand by 2025. This highlights how resilient and adaptable the industry has been over the past few years and highlights an increased focus on budget, technology and sustainability going forward, even as companies deal with rising travel costs and changing traveler preferences. sex.

“GBTA’s findings demonstrate that the industry is at a critical juncture. Business travel is not only rebounding, but transforming – driven by the need to manage costs and risks, ensure strong traveler productivity and experiences, and drive responsible growth . As 2025 approaches, industry leaders are balancing expansion with responsibility, looking to leverage new technologies, travel trends and sustainable practices to enable business travel to continue to deliver incredible value in a rapidly changing world.” said GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang.

Already 35 years old nowth The survey (conducted from October 7 to 18, 2024) reflects feedback from nearly 900 business travel professionals around the world and provides important insights into the trends, challenges and future expectations of global business travel.

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

Positive emotions and optimism now and in the future

When asked how they thought the business travel industry would perform in 2024, survey results showed that despite volatile economic and operating conditions, 93% of travel buyers and 79% of travel suppliers believed the industry was at or above exceeded their expectations.

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

While travel plans keep a close eye on the economy, there are few plans to limit business travel next year. More than half (55%) are unlikely or not seriously considering limiting business travel in 2025. Only 17% limit business travel due to financial considerations.

A growing number of buyers (52%, up from 44% in 2023) expect their business travel budgets to increase to support client-facing meetings, sales initiatives, conferences and internal collaboration. About 7% expect the budget to increase “significantly”. Only 16% of buyers expect a reduction in budget, demonstrating their continued, clear commitment to in-person engagement in 2025.

When asked to select up to three of the most important factors that lead to optimism about the year ahead, business travel buyers and suppliers most frequently cited lower travel costs/keeping corporate budgets in line (46%) and an improving economy/lower inflation (44%) and increased traveler confidence/more travel requests (40%).

Emerging patterns and preferences among business travelers

The survey also reflects continued changes in traveler preferences. The trend of “hybrid travel” (combining work travel with leisure purposes) continues to rise, with nearly half of buyers (46%) saying their company’s employees take more “bleisure” travel now than a year ago. Only 9% of respondents said the number of mixed employee trips is decreasing.

In-person meetings continue to rebound. Three in five buyers (59%) say their company’s employees are participating in more face-to-face meetings now than a year ago. Additionally, 45% of travel buyers say their employees want to travel more this year compared to 2023.

“Connected” business travel, which combines multiple meetings and/or stops in one trip, continues to increase. More than half of buyers (53%) say their company’s employees are taking more interline travel than a year ago. However, business day trips are declining while trip duration is increasing. More buyers reported taking fewer day trips (27%) and more (21%) in the past year. Additionally, more than a third of buyers (36%) say trips last longer compared to last year.

Future challenges: cost, compliance and complexity

Balancing ambitious targets with practical constraints will be the main challenge in 2025, the survey shows. Companies must contend with budget constraints and pressures to transform technology and sustainability. Cost control remains crucial, with three-quarters of travel buyers (78%) citing it as one of the most important strategic priorities in their plans for next year, along with traveler safety (65%) and return on travel investment (49 %).

In terms of the most significant obstacles travel managers expect to face in the next year, the biggest concerns so far are rising travel costs and not keeping up with budgets (74%), followed by technology developments (40%) and employee travel program consolidation. Regularity (40%).

Sustainability remains a complex but critical focus

46% of travel professionals say sustainability will be a top priority by 2024, with 44% already incorporating sustainability initiatives into their plans. However, travel buyers say barriers remain, with 75% citing higher costs as a barrier, along with concerns about complexity (not knowing where to start), vague emissions measurement standards and traveler inconvenience.

Travel buyers are also seeing employees making more sustainable travel choices, with a third reporting a year-on-year increase in rail/train travel (38%) and intermodal travel (33%). Europe leads all regions on these indicators, demonstrating that the availability of practical rail options is key to driving further increases in sustainable choices for travelers.

Technology adoption and AI integration remain top priorities

With digital transformation as a priority, nearly half (49%) of tourism projects plan to increase investment in technology. Yet challenges remain – budget constraints, integration issues and data security remain significant hurdles that organizations must address to realize the technology’s full potential.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining traction as a core component of strategic operational enhancement within the industry. Two-fifths of GBTA respondents (44%, up from 32% last year) said they are excited about the impact of artificial intelligence on the business travel industry, while a quarter (23%) believe that the impact of artificial intelligence is now certain It’s too early to have an impact.

The survey found that only 14% of buyers currently use AI in travel planning, but this is an increase of 8 percentage points from last year, indicating rising interest and adoption. Although AI is important, it is not a top priority for 34% of buyer participants, and 26% consider AI to be a low or no priority, despite awareness of AI’s value There has been a clear shift.

Addressing NDC Implementation Challenges and Opportunities

New distribution capabilities (NDC) are a key area where the industry faces practical challenges in promoting innovation. While 29% of travel management companies, online booking tools and global distribution systems report that new distribution capability content implementation has been successful and are now delivering NDC content to customers, half (52%) have experienced challenges, indicating that the transformation process is complex, but Changes are also clearly moving towards wider acceptance.

Buyers are both enthusiastic and encounter obstacles in adopting NDC, with 16% reporting smooth implementation and 31% facing challenges. This paints a cautiously optimistic outlook and recognizes that NDC is an important but challenging evolution in travel distribution.

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