Business Travel Industry Faces Optimism and Operational Hurdles for 2026, GBTA Poll Finds

Industry Sentiment: Cautious Optimism Amid Constraints

The GBTA’s January 2026 poll, which surveyed 571 business travel professionals across 40 countries, indicates a generally positive outlook for the coming year. Approximately 59% of respondents expressed optimism about the industry’s prospects, while 31% maintained a neutral stance. However, optimism has declined by 12 percentage points compared to the previous year, reflecting ongoing concerns about economic, cross-border, and trade challenges.

Spending and Volume Projections for 2026

Most corporate travel buyers (84%) expect their organizations’ business travel spending to either increase (44%) or remain at 2025 levels (40%) in 2026. The average anticipated increase among those expecting growth is 12%, while only 13% foresee a decrease. Regarding trip volumes, 35% of buyers expect an increase, with an average expected rise of 14%. Nearly half (47%) expect business trip numbers to remain steady, and buyers in the EMEA region are more likely to anticipate a decrease.

Travel managers also expect more employees to travel for business in 2026. Forty-two percent anticipate an increase in employee travelers, though one-third of these expect growth of less than 10%. Thirty-eight percent expect the number of travelers to remain unchanged, and 18% foresee a decline.

Supplier and TMC Revenue Expectations

Travel suppliers and travel management companies (TMCs) are generally optimistic about revenue prospects. Almost half (47%) expect revenue increases in 2026, with an average projected growth of 15%. Thirty-nine percent expect revenues to remain at 2025 levels, and 14% anticipate a decline. Regional differences are notable, with North American suppliers being the least likely to expect revenue growth.

Operating Budgets and Cost Control

Three-quarters (75%) of travel buyers expect their 2026 budgets for travel management operations to either increase (30%) or remain consistent with 2025 (45%). Among those expecting growth, 20% anticipate less than 10% increase. However, 18% expect operational budgets to decline. U.S. buyers are more concerned about program cost savings and control (74%) compared to non-U.S. buyers (62%).

Suppliers and TMCs report reducing marketing spend (26%), pausing new hires (22%), and decreasing staff or outsourcing (13%) as primary areas of budget cuts. In the U.S., 20% of TMC professionals expect staffing reductions, and 26% anticipate hiring freezes.

Top Concerns: Affordability, Borders, and Safety

The leading concerns for travel buyers in 2026 are affordability (70%), ease of obtaining entry/exit permissions and visas (65%), and employee safety (56%). These concerns are consistent across markets and roles, though U.S. buyers are particularly focused on affordability and entry/exit permissions. Buyers managing high volumes of trips and suppliers express heightened concern about cross-border requirements.

Service quality from TMCs is a concern for 52% of buyers, while 42% are worried about internal support for travel programs. Suppliers are also concerned about the willingness of travel and procurement managers to switch partners. Balancing cost controls with traveler satisfaction (59%) and managing price increases (58%) are cited as significant challenges. Non-U.S. buyers are more concerned about protecting travelers from AI scams.

Operational challenges include missing content in booking tools (46%), addressing AI (46%), and managing leakage (39%).

U.S. ESTA Changes and Cross-Border Mobility

Proposed changes to the U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) could require travelers from 42 visa-free countries to provide more personal information, such as long-term social media and family data, and use biometric selfies and a mobile app. These changes raise privacy concerns and could affect travel to the U.S.

Among organizations that frequently send employees to the U.S., 78% are concerned about managing travel under the new requirements. Top issues include managing travel logistics (65%), increased challenges for sending employees (64%), higher costs (63%), and reduced willingness to travel to the U.S. (61%). European professionals are especially concerned about privacy, with 67% indicating employees may avoid U.S. travel rather than provide additional personal information.

As a result, companies are considering holding more meetings outside the U.S. (43%), reducing near-term (29%) and long-term (25%) U.S. travel, and changing policies to limit U.S. trips (19%).

Artificial Intelligence in Business Travel

AI remains a focus for business travel professionals, with 65% interested in pricing optimization and 64% in predictive analytics. Buyers see AI’s current value in improving data analysis (45%) and automating reporting (42%). Interest in AI-driven analytics and dynamic pricing is higher outside the U.S. Looking ahead five years, 56% expect AI to moderately improve automation, while only 27% anticipate a significant transformation of their roles.

Survey Methodology

The GBTA conducted the online poll from January 5-18, 2026, with responses from 571 members and non-members across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Respondents represented organizations with varying business travel spending and responsibilities.

For more information and to access the full poll results, visit GBTA Research.