Advantage Travel Partnership and Travelogix reveal findings in landmark 10th Global Business Travel Review

Advantage Travel Partnership, in partnership with travel data and reporting specialists Travelogix, has published the 10th edition of its Global Business Travel Review. To mark the milestone edition, this Review presents a reimagined dataset* and a new, more interactive method of engaging with the insights alongside a variety of expert industry contributions from across the globe.

The key data findings of the Review revealed:

1. Average trip cost continues to rise, despite shorter trips
   
2. Cost inflation is not being offset by earlier booking
   
3. Reducing traveller confidence is redefining a behavioural shift
   
4. Hotel attachment continues to weaken, creating visibility and control gaps
   
5. Online booking share declined year-on-year
   
6. Agent involvement remains critical for complex and higher-risk itineraries
   
7. Asia-Pacific routes show resilience relative to North America
   
8. Increased change and refund activity shows travel volatility remains embedded

This Review features an interactive experience to bring the top 10 highest-fare destinations across seven global regions to life. Readers can explore key data for each of these regions including average fare, class of travel breakdown and booking behaviour metrics.

Assessing the financial trends, business travel has shown a shift from temporary cost pressures to more structured and persistent patterns. The average trip costs remain elevated year-on-year, reflecting behavioural adjustments rather than suppressed demand. Long-haul destinations, including South Africa, Japan, and the USA, continue to carry a significant premium, driven largely by high volumes of premium-class travel. From 2024 to 2025, the average trip cost rose from £876.86 to £919.13 (+4.8%) while trip duration fell from 9.13 to 8.68 days (-4.9%), indicating that travellers are paying more for shorter trips. UK business travel programmes are prioritising value over volume, focusing on trips that deliver tangible outcomes within tighter schedules, reflecting ongoing cost pressures and a broader impact on traveller experience and wellbeing.

Class of travel in business trips varies sharply by distance and market. Short-haul European travel remains overwhelmingly economy-led, with 80–95% of bookings in economy class in countries such as Ireland, Portugal, Poland, and Spain, reflecting a focus on speed, frequency, and cost efficiency rather than premium comfort. In contrast, long-haul destinations show a higher mix of business and premium economy travel, with Japan, South Africa, China, and India demonstrating that organisations selectively invest in higher cabin classes to support productivity, wellness, and comfort over longer journeys. First-class travel remains rare, accounting for less than 5% of bookings even in top markets like the United States, Japan, and the UAE.

Booking behaviour shows clear patterns based on trip distance and complexity. Long-haul trips are booked further in advance and tend to have longer durations, with destinations like the United States, South Africa, and China reflecting the need for visas, higher costs, complex itineraries, and organisational oversight. In contrast, short-haul European trips, such as to Ireland and Germany, are shorter and booked closer to departure.

Hotel attachment rates are highest for long-haul and major city destinations, including the United States, UAE, South Africa, and China, as longer stays and predictable accommodation needs drive managed bookings, highlighting untapped opportunities for TMCs. Similarly, change and refund rates rise with distance and duration, with long-haul destinations like the United States, India, China, and South Africa showing higher itinerary volatility, while short-haul EU trips remain more predictable and stable.

Business Travel Trends for 2026

Within the Review, members of Advantage’s Global Business Travel Advisory Board share expert perspectives on the key trends shaping the industry in 2026, offering a forward-looking view of how corporate travel continues to evolve in response to changing market dynamics. Their insights reflect a collective understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing businesses today, from technology and data to shifting traveller expectations and economic pressures.

Window to the World: The Global Perspective

Sharing a ‘Window to the World’, the report includes updates from members of the Advantage Global Network, a network of 96 partners in 83 countries, in the USA, Singapore, UK, Philippines, and Australia. It brings together perspectives from key industry leaders, offering a snapshot of evolving trends, priorities, and challenges across global travel markets.

In addition, this report offers dedicated sector insights from Melissa Watson Vice President, Global Housing, Travel & Events at Informa, Kate Devereux Sales Manager–UK & Ireland at Delta Air Lines, Darren Williams Managing Director at Evolvi Rail Systems, and Julien Houdebine Chief Sales & Revenue Officer at Accor.

Andrea Caulfield-Smith, Managing Director of Global Business Travel at Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “As we reach the incredible milestone of our 10th Global Business Travel Review, we want to thank our partners Travelogix for their continued support and data expertise which enables us to share these invaluable insights. While the business travel landscape continues to evolve at pace, with companies adapting their travel programmes in response to factors such as sustainability, duty of care, economic pressures, and shifting traveller behaviour, we can see exactly how these changes have evolved over time from the meaningful insights of each edition.

This Review goes beyond the headline trends to explore how business travel is truly being bought and booked today, helping to build a more complete and accurate picture of what’s happening across the market. Through this latest edition, we hope to enable more meaningful conversations across the industry between members and their customers, with supplier partners, and within organisations themselves.

Despite a challenging start to this year with conflict in the Middle East, we know the business travel industry remains resilient and we expect the year ahead to be a strong one for the industry. We look forward to continuing our work with Advantage members and supplier partners to deliver market-leading capabilities. I would also like to thank all of our supplier partners and industry experts for their vital contributions, which ensure this Review reflects a genuinely global perspective.”

Chris Lewis, Founder and CEO at Travelogix, said: “We’re proud to reach such an important milestone in the evolution of the Global Business Travel Review. From the outset of this 10th edition, our ambition has been to go beyond static tables and create an interactive method of engaging with the data to offer a clearer, more meaningful view of how business travel programmes truly operate today. By applying a consistent methodology year after year, we are able to track how the landscape is shifting and uncover the trends shaping its future. Above all, our commitment remains rooted in transparency and delivering data-driven insights that empower our partners and the wider industry to make better, more informed decisions.

As always, thank you to our partners at Advantage Travel Partnership, as well as our valued contributors, for their continued willingness to collaborate, engage deeply with the data, and help us spotlight the trends shaping the business travel industry. We look forward to continuing this journey together.”

The Review contains contributions from:

• Andrea Caulfield-Smith, Advantage Travel Partnership
• Anders Chen, Samepage Travel
• Darren Williams, Evolvi Rail Systems
• David Bulloch, Travelport
• John Hobbs-Hurrell, Advantage Global Network
• Julien Houdebine, Accor
• Kate Devereux, Delta Air Lines
• Lara Maughan, IATA
• Marilyn O. De Mesa, Seasons Travel
• Matt Masson, CT Partners
• Melissa Watson, Informa
• Mike Owens, Sequel Travel
• Nick Bettles, Talma Europe
• Paul Cronje, Clyde Travel Management
• Shelley Matthews, Take2Eton Group
• Simon Ferguson, Modaxo