Upward climb with uphill struggles: 2024 Deloitte corporate travel study
Amid steady corporate travel growth, companies are challenged to balance a need for more face-to-face client interaction with steep pricing and persistent environmental impact
While leisure travelers returned in a big way to airports, hotels, and vacation rentals beginning in the summer of 2021,1 corporate travel has been slower to return post–COVID-19 pandemic. Caution—initially about health, and then about financial costs and environmental impact—led most companies toward gradual returns to the road.2 New structural realities of working life have also curtailed the need to travel, with more home-centered days and virtual meetings, and fewer clients in office day to day to take sales meetings or collaborate on projects.
Still, corporate travel holds significant value across industries. By the end of 2024, US-based companies’ spend is expected to reach and perhaps surpass 2019 levels (figure 1). Findings from the fourth edition of Deloitte’s surveys of travel managers, travelers, and budget owners (fielded between May 8 and June 3, 2024) indicate that corporate travel spend could grow by 8% to 12% in 2024. That rate would put it well ahead of The Conference Board’s projected3 2.1% GDP gains, indicating a still-recovering industry. 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. In 2025, travel managers expect growth to slow by a couple of percentage points, but gains appear likely to continue to pace at two to three times GDP growth.
If there is lingering discomfort with travel post-pandemic, those traveling report very little. Only 3% say they dislike business travel, while 83% call it overall “enjoyable.” And they see both professional and personal value in it—about half place networking opportunities (51%) and exploring different cities (47%) among the top three benefits of business travel. Some take the opportunity to enjoy the travel without the business—two-thirds of corporate travelers say they extended a business trip for leisure in 2023. Still, travelers do identify some drawbacks, with the most cited being general fatigue (55%), followed by time away from loved ones (41%) and the work that can pile up while they are away (39%). When it comes to specific in-trip pain points, travelers say they encounter the most friction, by far, when they need to cancel or reschedule flights or hotel bookings.
Key findings
- Most travel managers expect their companies’ spend to grow in both 2024 (73%) and 2025 (58%). For those projecting gains, expectations average out to 14% to 15% each year.
- Return to office is still cited as a driver of increased travel, as companies’ balance of remote, in-office, and hybrid work continues to stabilize post-pandemic.
- While fewer workers travel for sales and project work, those who do are on the road frequently. One in five frequent travelers say they travel for sales or project work more than once a month.
- Most say they enjoy business travel, and many take the opportunity to enjoy the travel without the business—two-thirds of corporate travelers say they extended a business trip for leisure in 2023. One in seven say they did so three or more times.
- About three in 10 travelers say they never book trips through corporate online booking tools or agents. Most travelers book at least some of their trips through unmanaged channels. Online travel agency (OTA) bookers are most attracted by better deals, while those who go directly to hotel and airline suppliers are seeking an easier process when their travel plans change. Better digital user experience and loyalty points also play significant roles in platform selection.
- Travel managers surveyed report significant progress over the past year on the sustainability front. On the airline side, there is a notable shift to support sustainable aviation fuel over flight-by-flight emissions comparisons. On the lodging side, certifications are increasingly appearing in the booking path, but chainwide initiatives are getting more attention.
- Conferences, trade shows, and exhibitions are playing a big role in travel growth, and more than six in 10 business travelers expect to attend at least one in 2024. While fewer say they will take client-focused trips for sales and project work, these types of trips are responsible for considerably more frequency.
