Deloitte: Corporate Travel Forecast a Mixed Bag Amid Complex Conditions

New York, Sept. 18, 2025

Key takeaways

• Company travel spend holds steady, but changes are on the horizon: 3 in 4 (74%) travel managers surveyed plan to expand budgets this year (similar to 2024), but fewer (68%) expect to do so for 2026. However, the share of travel managers expecting budget cuts is up (+4%). 
• Events and training and development drive travel demand: Two-thirds of travelers surveyed have or expect to travel for a live event, while nearly half (49%) either have or expect to travel for training this year.
• Costs are top-of-mind, as 54% of travel managers surveyed say cost is one of the top factors restricting travel this year. 
• Forty-nine percent of business travelers surveyed say they always use corporate booking tools, and 60% of travel managers say their companies are increasing compliance with the prescribed booking process to control costs.
• Sustainability management is becoming more actionable, as more online booking tools shift from simply tracking travel providers’ sustainability measures to providing functionality that offers recommendations.

Why this matters

The corporate travel market is growing moderately, but complexity abounds. Though budgets may be increasing, so are costs. At the same time, success and sustainability markers are getting increasingly complicated to measure as companies reevaluate travel’s primary benefits, potentially changing the course for their broader strategy. In 2025, the proportion of professionals traveling for work declined from 36% in 2024 to 31% in 2025. At the same time, the composition of business travelers is shifting: occasional travelers are becoming regulars, regular travelers are moving up to frequent status, while seasoned road warriors are scaling back their travel. In its new report, “Forecast in Flux: 2025 Deloitte Corporate Travel Survey,” Deloitte examines what is shaping the corporate travel landscape and what that means for travelers, their companies and travel providers alike. 

Corporate travel navigates a complicated trajectory
After signs of normalization last year, shifting conditions have complicated corporate travel’s continued ascent. While the majority of companies continue to increase their travel spend, pullbacks have become more widespread, especially among larger companies.

• Annual budgets are increasing, for now: 3 in 4 travel managers surveyed (74%) report expanding budgets this year, similar to 2024 (73%). However, the share anticipating budget cuts is up from 6% to 10%, and they expect their budgets to shrink by an average of 28%. Looking ahead, fewer travel managers expect to raise budgets for 2026 (68%), and 9% anticipate cuts.
• Larger companies anticipate a greater impact, as only 59% surveyed expect increases in their travel budgets — a sharp contrast to smaller companies (80%) who plan to spend more. This counters 2024 trends when larger companies were more likely to expect budget growth.
• Surveyed travelers generally expect to travel more than in 2024. However, frequent travelers (10 or more trips per year) expect to reduce their trips. Just 53% expect to travel three or more times per month, down from 63%.
• Among those who allocate travel budgets, 16% expect their teams to travel less this year, up from 9% in 2024.

Live events, training drive travel demand
While face-to-face connections with clients continue to be the largest driver of corporate travel, travel to connect with internal stakeholders for training and development is taking off.

• Live events remain a major universal driver of business travel, as nearly two-thirds (65%) of business travelers surveyed expect to attend a conference this year.
• Employee training is now on-par with business development as a catalyst for travel. While new business initiatives remain the top driver (52%), training and development jumped to second place (47%), underscoring how new technology is spurring a need for upskilling of internal teams. Other top drivers include in-person engagement with clients and partners (45%) and conferences (42%).
• Further emphasizing the growing role of training and development, 1 in 5 (20%) travel managers cite it as their companies’ top driver of travel growth in 2025, and nearly half (49%) of corporate travelers already have or expect to travel for training in 2025, up from 45% last year.

— Kate Ferrara, vice chair and U.S. transportation, hospitality and services sector leader, Deloitte

Costs create headwinds for return on travel investment
Amid rising costs and shifting preferences, organizations are focused more on ensuring that travel brings strong return on investments. The considerations for what generates strong ROI, however, is shifting.

• Fifty-four percent of travel managers surveyed say cost is among the top three factors restricting travel, up from 48% in 2024.
• To manage costs, more companies are targeting hotel rates: Travel providers surveyed say they are encouraging travelers to choose less expensive lodging options (50%) rather than lower cost of airfares (37%).
• International trips account for about half (54%) of respondents’ spend, similar to 2024, but destination mix continues to shift as pandemic-era restrictions lift and other considerations factor into decisions.
• Corporate booking tools remain an effective cost-control measure, and booking compliance remains similar to 2024 (42%). Frequent travelers have become even more compliant (49% of respondents in 2025 planned to use corporate channels exclusively vs. 43% in 2024).
• For those not using corporate channels, online travel agency (OTA) booking has declined among those surveyed, especially among air travel bookers, down to 49% from 57% in 2024. Responses indicate that user experience is playing a part: The share of those surveyed who say they use an OTA due to a superior shopping experience went from 46% in 2024 to 27% in 2025.
• Most respondents say their companies still make pre-trip assessments of each trip’s justifiability (54%) and prioritize trips that could lead to specific business outcomes (58%), but these approaches are trending down (compared to 66% and 75%, respectively, in 2024). Meanwhile, the share of respondents whose companies regularly evaluate travel strategy at the highest levels is up slightly.

Sustainability initiatives keep their course
Sustainability and environmental impact also shape corporate travel plans. Organizations are increasingly moving from simply monitoring their suppliers’ efforts to actively recommending based on factors such as emissions, certifications and chainwide standards.

• Nearly half (48%) of travel managers surveyed say their companies are optimizing business travel practices to mitigate environmental impact, similar to 2024.
• Reducing impact isn’t just about reducing travel, as some prioritize suppliers with sustainable practices: The share of travel managers prioritizing airlines that use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) jumped 10%, from 33% in 2024 to 43% this year.
• Fewer companies are tracking suppliers’ sustainability metrics. For aviation, those tracking the use of SAFs went from 48% in 2024 to 25% in 2025, and those tracking carbon emissions per flight went from 38% to 30%. For hospitality providers, less organizations are tracking sustainability certifications and ratings (52% in 2024 vs. 30% in 2025) and chainwide standards (35% in 2024 vs. 26% in 2025).
• More travel buyers report information on SAFs, emissions and certifications are flagged in booking tools. Most notable, 41% said booking tools flagged use of SAFs, and 42% said the tool flagged carbon emissions per flight. On the hospitality side, 40% of surveyed travel buyers said booking tools flagged sustainability certifications and ratings.

— Eileen Crowley, U.S. transportation, hospitality and services leader, Deloitte

 
Deloitte’s “2025 Corporate Travel Report” is based on two surveys. The first surveyed 151 U.S.-based corporate travel managers between July 10 and July 23, 2025, who are tasked with company-wide travel initiatives including employee-oriented policy, supplier negotiations, duty of care, and the procurement of booking technology. The second surveyed 1,003 U.S.-based corporate travelers who took a business trip in 2024 and also traveled in 2025, fielded from July 3 to July 12, 2025. Among those corporate travelers, 215 qualified as budget owners, leaders who make travel decisions for teams or business units.