The biggest business travel trends in 2024

Mel Quinn

ByMel Quinn

January 12, 2025
Smiling,Businesswoman,With,Carry,On,Luggage,Walking,Through,Hotel,Hallway.

As the final wave of corporate travellers land home and 2024 comes to a close, many travel managers will be not only be reflecting on an incredibly busy past 12 months, but preparing for business travel to take off once again.

With the chance to reflect, spending time with friends and family over the festive period, the theme of ‘togetherness’ sails into view. Afterall, beating at the very heart of business travel is the theme of human connection and the idea that bringing people together to meet face-to-face reaps rewards for not only businesses, but the individuals working within.

According to a recent survey by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), more than three quarters (86%) of global business travel buyers and travel suppliers said that business travel performed better than they anticipated in 2024 – a positive reflection that not only spotlights a successful year for many, but also sets a strong foundation for the months ahead.

But what are the key trends to have emerged this year? Evolving business travel policies, the continued prioritisation of traveller wellbeing and increased digitalisation, both in booking management and throughout the journey itself, stand out as defining business travel in 2024.

Evolving business travel policies

There are a myriad of reasons why a company may take a magnifying glass to a business travel policy. Some SMEs may have grown so rapidly that their travel policy simply never had chance to keep up, others have a lot of learned experiences from the last few years that have impacted the need to ‘shape-up’ before their travelling colleagues ‘ship-out’.

Concerns about the environmental impact of business travel have further been a vital factor in the reassessment of company travel needs.

The most successful travel policies are finely tuned to the nature of a business, its operations and strategic goals, and its essential that as travel managers we take the time to understand this. Taking care to get to know every client personally means that travel managers can not only contribute to the development of new and improved company policies, working hand-in-hand with in-house teams to support their creation, but put policy effectively into action the moment an air or rail ticket is booked.

Wellbeing wins

Naturally, frequent business travellers can find maintaining a healthy work-life balance particularly difficult – from keeping up with packed itineraries to less time at home. With travellers more aware of the impact on their health and wellbeing, companies recognise they need to look after their people and ensure they feel cared for every step of the way.

Many companies have put traveller wellbeing at the heart of their travel policies to meet the varying and diverse needs of their travellers.  This includes building downtime into schedules, allowing colleagues to work from home the day after returning from a trip, streamlining itineraries so travellers aren’t spending longer than necessary away, and creating schedules which work around the traveller’s typical daily routine.

Online meets offline for the personal touch

A further trend for 2024 saw ongoing demand for digitalisation. In corporate travel specifically this has so many advantages. From being able to access all travel documents at the ‘click of a button’ to supporting travel management reporting and being able to point to where travellers are in the world.

Whilst we love the convenience of the digital world, business travel ‘in real life’ and by its very nature seeks out human connection. The trick is to strive to achieve the perfect blend, where our increasingly ‘online’ experiences are made better, made memorable, and in fact, more enjoyable, by the human relationships we create and nurture along the way. The best travel managers will ensure their clients – both travel bookers and travellers – experience a purposeful mix of the two.

So, with 2024 almost in the rear-view mirror, and looking hopeful to the road ahead, TMCs should feel optimistic about growth prospects in 2025.

There is an ongoing, clear and pressing need for corporate travel experts to support businesses, recognising that travel policies are ever-evolving, traveller preferences increasingly need dedicated support, and wellbeing requirements climb to the top of the agenda. These considerations alone mean that seasoned, experienced travel advice is more essential than ever.