Corporate travel maintains its growth, but cools off in large companies
Business travel spending will continue to grow in 2025, albeit with signs of containment and a more uncertain outlook, according to the Forecast in flux: 2025 Deloitte Corporate Travel Study report published by Deloitte. The study shows that after two years of steady recovery, the industry is now entering a more nuanced phase, marked by caution and spending control.
Three out of four travel managers say their companies have increased budgets this year, in line with 2024, but the percentage of those expecting cuts has risen from 6% to 10%.
The trend is more pronounced among large organizations: one in five companies with more than $7.5 million in travel spend in 2024 expect to reduce their budget in 2025, while 59% expect to increase it, compared with 79% of smaller companies. In the previous year, the pattern was the opposite.
The study reveals that the incidence rate of corporate travel —i.e., the proportion of professionals traveling for business purposes— has fallen from 36% to 31%. However, among those who do travel, there is a polarization: the number of employees making between six and ten trips a year is growing, but many frequent travelers are reducing the intensity of their trips, especially in corporations with more than 1.000 employees.
Cost pressure and sustainability
54% of travel managers identify costsamong the top three factors limiting travel, up from 48% in 2024. Sustainability commitments gain weight: 48% consider them a significant constraint, up from 38% last year, and nearly half of companies say they are optimizing their travel practices to reduce their environmental impact.
More than 40% of organizations already prioritize airlines using sustainable fuels (SAF), a ten-point increase over last year. In addition, the integration of sustainability criteria in booking tools is growing, with more and more eco-friendly options being highlighted or imposed as a consideration in the purchasing process.
Large corporations are the
New travel drivers
The main reason for travel remains face-to-face contact with customers and partners. Meetings with external parties, business development and attending congresses or events are among the top four growth drivers. In the case of SMEs, participation in events is gaining in importance as an efficient way to connect with multiple stakeholders in a few days.
A rising factor is training. One in five travel managers rank training and professional development programs as the number one driver of travel growth in 2025, in line with the global boom in job retraining. Two-thirds of companies report increasing their budget in this area, up from 54% in 2024.
Technology and compliance
Compliance with booking policies remains stable, but improves among frequent travelers: 49% report always using corporate channels, up from 43% last year.Use of online agencies (OTAs) is declining, dropping from 57% to 49% for airline tickets, in favor of corporate platforms and direct bookings with airlines and hotels.
The user experience appears to be improving. Only 27% of travelers using OTAs do so because they consider their interface superior, down from 46% in 2024. At the same time, the majority of those who modified flights through corporate tools rate the process as “smooth” or “very smooth”, a positive sign for program managers looking to increase employee buy-in.
A future with selective growth
Deloitte concludes that, although corporate travel continues to recover, the pace is moderating and growth is concentrated in strategic areas. Large companies tend to rationalize their travel based on criteria of profitability, sustainability and alignment with business objectives, while small and medium-sized companies continue to see travel as a lever for expansion.
The report points out that the sector faces an environment of moderate growth, but of increasing complexity, in which flexibility, transparency and collaboration between suppliers and clients will be key to generating value in an increasingly demanding market.