When your team travels for work, every trip should do more than just tick a box. It should drive real value for your business while delivering a smooth, satisfying experience for your travelers. Achieving both isn’t accidental; it requires a smart blend of strategy, insight, and the right technology.
In this report, we explore the latest business travel trends shaping how organisations plan, manage, and measure success. From evolving ways of working to the growing influence of Gen Z and AI, we have covered the factors redefining the travel landscape.
Each trend comes with practical, actionable ideas you can start using right away. Our goal is to spark fresh thinking helping you create happier travellers, maximize ROI, and build a more effective, future-ready business travel program.
While the rise of Gen Z is a trend in its own right and one you can actively respond to their expectations are also shaping many of the other trends explored throughout this report.
What Gen Z means for your business travel program
- Be upfront about travel expectations during hiring to support a healthy work-life balance.
- Allow employees to benefit from loyalty programs, and ensure they have access to 24/7 support across multiple channels.
- Provide an intuitive, consumer-grade booking tool to boost adoption and compliance.
With Gen Z and Millennial ranking workplace flexibility as a top reason for staying in a role, it’s worth rethinking what “flexibility” looks like in your business travel approach. For many Gen Z employees, business trips aren’t just about work, they’re an opportunity to blend work with leisure, often extending trips to make the most of their destination. This growing trend, known as “bleisure” travel, is reshaping expectations.
To keep pace, travel policies need to support a better work-life balance, even when employees are on the road. The right travel platform can also introduce controlled flexibility giving travellers the freedom to book and manage their own trips, while still enabling your business to maintain visibility, compliance, and cost control.
What structured flexibility means for your business travel programme
- Offer remote work flexibility and the option to extend trips.
- Set clear “bleisure” guidelines so everyone knows what’s allowed.
- Use a flexible booking platform that empowers travellers while maintaining oversight.
Business travel does more than get work done; it builds relationships, strengthens teams, and opens new opportunities. It also has a positive impact on wellbeing and productivity for many travellers. But it’s not without challenges, with factors like disrupted sleep and routine taking a toll.
That’s why today’s travellers are prioritizing balance blending work with moments to rest, recharge, and enjoy their surroundings. Whether it’s access to healthier options, downtime, or a bit of leisure, supporting this balance isn’t just good for employees, it drives better performance, loyalty, and long-term business success.
What traveller wellbeing means for your travel program
Make rest a core part of your travel strategy. Encourage employees to choose flights and stays that support proper downtime even if it means an extra night away.
Give travellers the freedom to extend trips with personal time. Whether it’s a morning walk in a new city or a short weekend stay, these moments help them recharge and return with fresh energy. And don’t stop there, gather feedback after each trip to understand how employees feel, and use those insights to continuously improve your travel policies.
At the same time, be intentional about when and why you travel. In an era where virtual meetings are the norm, every trip should deliver clear value. Ask the right questions: Will meeting in person accelerate decisions or generate more revenue than it costs? Will it strengthen client relationships or improve retention? Will it boost employee satisfaction and development?
By setting clear criteria and measuring outcomes both financial and human, you can make smarter travel decisions.
What intentional travel means for your travel program
- Set clear, measurable goals for every trip and align your team around them.
- Maximize efficiency by combining multiple objectives into a single journey.
- Empower employees to make smart travel decisions including declining trips that don’t add value.
- Track impact through tangible results like deals closed, client feedback, and employee retention.
Business travel has come a long way from manual, time-consuming processes. Today’s digital platforms already offer faster bookings, greater choice, automated approvals, and real-time expense tracking all in one place.
Now, the next evolution is here: hyper-automation. By combining AI, machine learning, and robotic process automation, businesses can streamline even the most complex travel processes with minimal effort.
Imagine tools that learn from your company’s travel patterns and take action automatically rebooking hotels when prices drop, flagging out-of-policy spend instantly, and eliminating the hassle of manual expense claims by capturing and matching everything in real time.
How to get your business travel program ready for hyper-automation
- Centralize your travel data to power smarter, AI-driven automation.
- Build clear, consistent policies that can be easily translated into automated rules.
- Define success metrics so you can measure the real impact of automation.
At the same time, the airport experience is rapidly evolving. With digital border control systems rolling out worldwide, travel is becoming faster, smoother, and more secure. The EU’s new Entry/Exit system, set for full implementation by April 2026, will replace traditional passport stamps with biometric checks using fingerprints and facial recognition.
Airports are already leading the way. At Changi Airport, travellers can enjoy seamless, automated clearance using pre-enrolled biometrics. In the US, digital IDs stored in mobile wallets are enabling quicker, more secure screening across hundreds of airports.
What biometric borders mean for your travel program
- Update your travel policy to include biometric program participation and requirements.
- Provide clear training so employees understand enrolment, usage, and privacy considerations.
- Ensure your booking and expense systems can handle new digital travel processes.
- Factor biometric enrolment fees into your travel budget.
When it comes to loyalty programs, today’s business travellers are driven by practicality. It’s not just about brand loyalty they value real, immediate benefits like discounts, easy redemption, and seamless digital experiences.
Complex points systems and long wait times for rewards are losing appeal. Instead, travellers want instant perks and effortless access to benefits. Personalization is also key tailored offers and relevant rewards significantly increase engagement and repeat usage.
With the power of real-time data, AI, and machine learning, loyalty programs are becoming smarter and more responsive than ever. Those that deliver convenience, immediacy, and personalised value will be the ones that keep business travellers coming back.
How to make the most of loyalty program for your team and business travel program
- Give your team flexibility by offering access to multiple loyalty programs that suit both their needs and the business.
- Actively promote the benefits so travellers know exactly what perks and rewards are available.
- Keep redemption simple and make rewards easy to access, ideally directly within your booking platform.
Make loyalty effortless, valuable, and visible and your travellers will be far more likely to engage and benefit.
