Future of business travel looks bright but modernisation is lagging, says report
The Expedia Group research found that respondents were optimistic about business travel, but further investment was needed in AI tech
A new research report has highlighted the travel sector’s optimism about the future of business travel.
The report from Expedia Group, The future of business travel: is market optimism outpacing capability, reveals that travel management companies (TMCs) are highly optimistic about the next three years of business travel – yet many lack confidence in their ability to meet the rising expectations of today’s business travellers.
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The research, conducted in late 2025, surveyed 214 senior decision-makers at TMCs across the US, UK, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Australia, China, India and Japan.
Respondents reported 95 percent had strong optimism about the next three years of business travel, citing increasing demand and the accelerating return of corporate travel programs.
At the same time, the findings show a clear expectation–execution gap. Although traveller expectations have increased across blended trip planning (85 percent), booking simplicity (84 percent), loyalty rewards (83 percent) personification (81 percent) and mobile booking (76 percent), only 30-40 percent of TMC leaders feel very confident they can meet these needs today.
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Confidence is particularly strained among larger TMCs (250+ employees), where operational complexity is highest.
This expectation gap mirrors insights from Expedia Group’s latest perspective on business traveller behaviour, which shows travellers increasingly prioritising efficiency, personalisation and flexibility, including more intuitive booking flows, clearer loyalty value and the ability to seamlessly combine business and leisure needs.
Together, these trends underscore mounting pressure on TMCs to modernise the end‑to‑end experience and keep pace with shifting traveller behaviour.
AI investment is widespread: all respondents report adopting AI, and nearly all are investing in automation and real‑time data analytics (97 percent). However, fewer than half believe their budgets for emerging technologies are sufficient, indicating that ambition is outpacing foundational readiness.
Carolina Cabero, senior vice president, Expedia Group B2B, said that AI-enhanced platforms can help TMCs to “meet rising expectations with confidence, adapt faster and lead the next era of business travel with certainty”.
“Business travel is entering a phase of immense opportunity – and equally immense pressure.”
“Leaders know exactly what travellers want, but many lack confidence that their current systems can deliver.
“Closing that gap is now the challenge.”
