British SMEs are doubling down on international business travel, shrugging off the drag of Middle Eastern instability to chase new markets, suppliers and deals overseas, fresh research from Travel Counsellors for Business has revealed.
The travel management company’s survey of 1,000 UK small and medium-sized enterprises found that 67 per cent remain confident about travelling abroad for work, while 39 per cent intend to step up the number of international trips they take over the coming 12 months — a vote of confidence that runs sharply counter to the mood elsewhere in the corporate travel market.
Those pushing to travel more are doing so with clear commercial intent. Some 38 per cent cited the pursuit of new business opportunities, 35 per cent pointed to meetings with fresh suppliers or manufacturers, and 31 per cent said they would be attending overseas events and conferences.
That appetite is translating into bigger budgets. Nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of SMEs told Travel Counsellors they expect to spend more on overseas trips in the year ahead, with just 10 per cent bracing for cuts. Average projected spend has jumped from £43,000 in 2024 to £57,000, a striking leap that underlines the strategic weight businesses are placing on face-to-face contact.
Travel Counsellors’ own booking data echoes the picture. UK corporate sales are up 6.1 per cent year on year over the past four weeks, driven by a 6.9 per cent uplift in average booking value, which the TMC said points to a clear shift towards higher-value, more considered trips.
The findings stand in stark contrast to the latest Global Business Travel Association barometer, which polled 500 travel buyers worldwide and saw optimism about business travel slide from 59 per cent in January to just 39 per cent in April. Europe was the only region in that survey where pessimism outweighed optimism.
Melanie Quinn, director of Travel Counsellors for Business, said the UK SME picture reflected a maturing approach rather than a retreat. “What we’re seeing is not a slowdown in business travel, but a shift in how it’s approached. SMEs are continuing to invest in travel because they recognise the value of face-to-face interaction, but they’re doing so more carefully, with greater focus on risk, flexibility and return on investment,” she said.
“We’re also seeing businesses adapt how they travel, whether that’s re-routing journeys or prioritising destinations where they feel more confident.”
That re-routing is playing out vividly in the TMC’s figures. Bookings through Middle Eastern hubs have collapsed 85 per cent year on year, while alternative routings via Asia have surged 166 per cent. Demand for the United States is up 17 per cent and Australia up 61 per cent, trends broadly mirrored in the GBTA’s own data.
Travel Counsellors said SMEs were demonstrating “a more deliberate and risk-aware approach to travel planning”. More than a quarter (26 per cent) are actively avoiding certain regions or routes, and 55 per cent said they were less willing to send staff to the Middle East.
Europe is the clear beneficiary. Some 68 per cent of SMEs expect to travel there most frequently over the next year, and 40 per cent said they were more likely to send colleagues to European destinations “in light of current geopolitical uncertainty”.
Flexibility, meanwhile, is cementing its place as a core purchasing lever. It emerged as the second most influential factor in booking decisions at 33 per cent, sitting behind cost (45 per cent) and just ahead of the ability to adapt plans quickly in response to disruption (32 per cent), further evidence that, for Britain’s SMEs, the road ahead is one of careful ambition rather than retreat.