Friday, July 11, 2025
According to a recent sector study, which was initiated by Navan and was conducted by Euromonitor International, two-thirds of the world’s business travel spending remains unmanaged, even though the growing marketplace continues to surge forward at a fast pace. According to a survey of over 750 corporate travel managers from nine countries, the study, which was undertaken as a definitive overview of the business travel marketplace, envisions considerable growth through the balance of the current decade.
Business travel spending reached a record US$2.09 trillion during 2024, which exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Spending, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.8%, is set to reach US$2.9 trillion by 2029. That forecast easily exceeds past growth estimates, such as the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), which had been forecasting just over US$2 trillion by 2028.
The Rise of Global Business Travel
The report revealed that the global business travel marketplace isn’t big, it’s expanding rapidly, with organisations ever-increasing their emphasis on face-to-face meetings and travel budgets. Amy Butte, CFO, Navan, responded to the report, citing the rising importance of business travel: “The size and scale of the global business travel marketplace are large and growing. Organisations all over the globe are giving even greater emphasis to face-to-face meetings, so travel budgets are increasing and CFOs are looking to simplify cost management.” Increasing
Despite this robust growth potential, however, a significant challenge does endure. As the study finds, two-thirds of the international business travel spend remains unmanaged. Even for companies that have a travel management company (TMC) program, 10% of bookings still occur outside of authorized booking channels. That absence of control over travel spend demonstrates the real potential for much greater control and spend management.
Small and Medium Enterprises Leading the Growth
Quite possibly the biggest trend emanating from the report is the explosive expansion of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) segment of the business travel marketplace. SMEs, as Euromonitor defines them, are companies that employ 1-200 workers and are projected to see a compounded annual growth rate of 7.1% for the 2024-2029 study period. This segment of the marketplace is going to grow exponentially, reflecting a wider trend of higher travel frequency among smaller companies.
In 2024, SMEs comprised 26.1% of the corporate business travel marketplace, and SMEs have a comparatively high average frequency of employee travel. As SMEs continue to expand, their travel needs are likely to become increasingly demanding, and thus, effective travel management solutions become all the more necessary for them.
The Rise of ‘Bleisure’ Travel
The report also foresees increasing trends for blended or ‘bleisure’ travel, which combines business and leisure aspects into a single trip. As per the study, bleisure travel will witness explosive growth everywhere globally, particularly in the United States, wherein 2024-2029, spending associated with bleisure travel will rise 87%. That nearly doubles spending today, which represents a shift in mindset among business people that view work-related trips differently.
As work and leisure become mingled for increasing numbers of workers, flexible travel policies that give personnel a choice of extending their business trips for personal recreation are becoming standard practice among firms. The trend is not just changing the nature of the business travel itself, but is presenting new opportunities for companies to enhance their travel policies and facilities.
Impact of Travel Management and Technology
It concludes that corporations are looking increasingly to technology to enable them to manage their travel needs, yet a lot of the spending remains unchecked. The survey identified corporations that have their TMCs properly set up as doing a better job of keeping track of and controlling their travel expenses, but there are still significant improvements to be made.
Adherence to policy while extending flexibility to the employees is a common challenge faced by several firms. Tech simplifies the process of booking travel, such that the employees book through the appropriate channels, and enables real-time monitoring of travel spend by the firms.
Despite such breakthroughs, the extremely segmented nature of the industry continues to pose barriers to seamless travel management. As corporations attempt to centralize their travel programs and reduce costs, it becomes all the clearer that better system integration and complete management strategies need to become the standard.
Predictions for the Future
Looking forward, the 2029 global business travel spend of US$2.9 trillion forecasted by the report cements the sector’s increasing relevance to the global economy. Growing SME segment, the expansion of the bleisure trend, and the continuing effort toward better travel spend management all bode well for the future of business travel as a reality of innovation as much as efficiency.
Whereas two-thirds of the business travel expenses are spent unofficially, companies becoming formal about travel management are likely to save money as well as boost personnel morale. As the market grows, companies have to transform themselves by introducing the latest technology, simplifying the process, and ensuring that employees book through the approved channels.
Conclusion
As the global business travel market continues to expand, corporations are faced with the challenge of constraining increasing travel costs while keeping their people flexible and convenient. Findings by Navan are a clarion call to corporations to get a grip on unmanaged travel costs and adopt improved travel management practices. As the number of SMEs continues to rise, bleisure continues to grow, and the importance of face-to-face increases, the business travel future continues to require corporations to balance travel costs with changing worker demands. In the years ahead, the travel-savvy companies that are embracing technology and wiser, more responsible travel practices will be better positioned to navigate the rising sophistication of the international business travel marketplace. As the marketplace itself grows to an estimated US$2.9 trillion by 2029, the possibilities for companies to streamline their travel programs and save money have never been better.
(Source: Navan, Euromonitor International, Global Business Travel Association, Corporate Travel Managers, SMEs, International Business Travel.)
