Business Travel Back to Pre-COVID Numbers

Companies are sending their “road warriors” out at a rate not seen since 2019. A new study shows companies are allocating more of their budgets for travel costs through 2024 and into next year.

Upward Climb with Uphill Struggles: 2024 Deloitte Corporate Travel Study reports that “travel spend could grow by 8% to 12% in 2024. … Frequency per traveler is up versus 2023 too — 77% of business travelers say they took one to five trips in 2023, 15% took six to 10 trips and 7% took more than 10. In 2024, 20% of travelers expect to take six to 10 trips, and 10% say they will take more than 10 trips.”

Corporate expenses related to travel could grow between 8% to 12% this year, according to corporate travel managers and executives that approve travel budgets who were surveyed by Deloitte in May. Managers expected a further uptick in travel in 2025.

What’s Driving Higher Business Travel?

Four factors are prompting more companies to increase business travel:

• higher participation of team members at events (65%)
• client demand for in-person meetings (62%)
• high team desire to travel (41%), and
• competitive pressure (31%).

Not too surprisingly, the three biggest “drags” on travel are:

• budget constraints (57%)
• high airfare (44%), and
• high hotel rates (40%).

Conferences and exhibitions (63%) top the list of events employees travel for, followed by training and learning development (45%) and sales meetings and client relationship-building (42%). “Budget owners (those who play a role in travel decisions at the team level) rank live event attendance and client demand for meetings as the top drivers of increased travel,” Deloitte notes.

Keep Business Travel Policies Top-of-Mind  

Companies can keep business travel costs in check by creating a policy for employees and communicating expectations on a consistent basis. Caveat: Employees are less likely to save their companies money if they feel underpaid or underappreciated.

“55% of those surveyed cite compliance as a top cost-control measure, ahead of all other options, including encouraging cheaper flight and hotel options,” the Deloitte report finds. “But just over half (56%) of travelers who are aware their company has a corporate booking tool or agency say they always book trips through these managed channels.”