Corporate Travel Outlook: Rising Costs, Shifting Travel Priorities

Corporate travel is shrinking this year, as costs associated with business travel rise and companies are beginning to evaluate the true benefits and costs associated with travel, according to Deloitte’s new “2025 Corporate Travel Report.”

The report is based on two surveys, one with over 1,000 U.S.-based corporate travelers who traveled both in 2024 and in 2025, with the other surveying over 150 corporate travel managers. 

“Corporate travel continues to be important to business and employee growth, but companies are facing potential turbulence as they adapt to conditions like rising costs and shifting internal priorities,” said Kate Ferrara, vice chair and U.S. transportation, hospitality and services sector leader, Deloitte

“This moment calls for agility and partnership between companies and their travel providers, as well as companies and their traveling employees,” Ferrara continued. “Understanding the goals of each trip and helping ensure the trip provides a strong return on investment is key. Meanwhile, providers who consider organizations’ travel priorities and are ready to adapt their offerings to offer the most value can be positioned to succeed long term.”

Costs Rise, as do Budgets

Companies are still spending steadily on corporate travel, but costs are rising, with 54 percent of travel managers saying it’s the top factor restricting business travel this year. Seventy-four percent of travel managers expect to expand their budgets this year, but 68 percent expect to expand budgets for 2026, which may signal future uncertainty. 

Sixty percent of travel managers say their companies are “increasing compliance” to manage costs better. 

Smaller companies are much more likely to increase their budgets this year compared to larger corporations: 80 percent versus 59 percent. While the number of those expected to expand budgets this year is aligned with 2024, the increase in smaller companies is a shift from last year. 

Why are Business Travelers Traveling?

The number of business travelers as a whole has shrunk from 36 percent to 31 percent from last year. 

The data suggests that events and training are the foremost reasons why business travelers are traveling at all: two-thirds of travelers have already or are expected to travel for a live event this year, while 49 percent expect to travel or already have traveled for training. This is an increase of four percent from last year. 

One in five travel managers cite training and development as the main reason their companies’ employees are traveling more. 

Business initiatives remain the top reason for business travel, at 52 percent. 

Even the average business traveler is changing: there are less occasional business travelers and those who travel regularly are becoming frequent fliers. Those who were once frequent fliers are now slowing down on the number of trips they take. 

Corporate Booking Tools Trump OTAs

Corporate booking tools are remaining an important tool for cost-effective business travel, but OTAs are becoming increasingly less useful for business travelers. 

OTA bookings have declined from 57 percent last year to 49 percent this year. User experience is a huge part of that decline, with just 27 percent of business travelers reporting a superior shopping experience with an OTA, down from 46 percent last year. 

Sustainability Continues Increasing

Sustainability is shifting from monitoring suppliers’ efforts to making recommendations based on certification standards and emissions. 

Like last year, 48 percent of travel managers say their companies are prioritizing business travel practices that reduce their environmental impact. 

The number of travel managers prioritizing airlines that use sustainable aviation fuel has increased 10 percent year over, to 43 percent. 

Yet while there’s more prioritization, there’s also less tracking of suppliers’ sustainability metrics: companies tracking SAFs went down from 48 percent last year to 25 percent this year, and those tracking carbon emissions per flight decreased from 38 percent to 30 percent. 

Forty percent of travel buyers are reporting that the information about these are all available in booking tools, so perhaps while there is less tracking, there is also an increased confidence in sustainability industry-wide due to its visibility. 

This article originally appeared in TravelPulse.

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