Global Business Travel Professionals Are Confident But Cautious Heading into 2026, According to Latest GBTA Poll
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New industry poll points to stable-to-rising travel spending & volume with affordability, traveler safety & cross-border concerns poised to shape the year ahead
ALEXANDRIA, VA, UNITED STATES, January 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Global business travel professionals are cautiously optimistic as the industry enters the year ahead ─ despite concerns over balancing travel budgets with costs, traveler safety and satisfaction, and potentially stricter U.S. border and visa requirements.
Organizations expect their corporate travel budgets to hold or rise and anticipate modest increases in trip volumes and revenue. Balancing cost control with traveler satisfaction will remain a central challenge, along with managing traveler safety related to travel-disruptive situations. Potentially, new cross border requirements pose a risk to international mobility and employee willingness to travel.
This is according to the latest poll from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) of 571 corporate travel buyers, travel suppliers, and travel management company (TMC) professionals across 40 countries surveying their outlook and concerns for business travel in the year ahead.
“The results show an industry propelled by anticipated stronger demand and financial indicators, yet potentially constrained by external factors that could reshape business travel in the year ahead,” said Suzanne Neufang, CEO, GBTA. “Traveling for work is critical to how global companies and economies grow, innovate and connect. We need to ensure it remains accessible, safe, and seamless ─ and that every trip counts.”
Overall Cautious Optimism for the Year Ahead
• 59% of professionals are optimistic about the industry this year. Globally, about 31% of respondents, on average, cite a neutral outlook.
• While the majority are optimistic, trade, cross-border and economic headwinds have left their mark on buyers—their outlook is down 12 percentage points versus coming into 2025 (based on GBTA’s November 2024 poll).
Stability or Slight Increases Expected for Business Travel Spending
• 84% of buyers expect their business travel spending in 2026 to increase (44%) or stay at 2025 levels (40%). Among buyers who expect a rise, the average expected increase is 12%. Only 13% of buyers expect a decrease.
Travel Volume at a Steady Cadence
• 35% of travel buyers expect the number of business trips at their company to increase in 2026, while 47% expect the same levels as 2025. Among those buyers anticipating a volume increase, the average expected increase is 14%.
Corporate Buyers Expect More Employee Travelers
• Compared to 2025, 42% of travel managers expect the number of employee travelers at their organization to increase in 2026—with 33% of those expecting an increase of less than 10%.
• Additionally, 38% expect their number of business travelers to stay consistent with 2025, while 18% expect a decline.
Travel Suppliers and TMCs Anticipate an Upside to Revenue
• 47% of TMCs and suppliers expect to see increases in revenue in 2026, at an average expected increase of 15%.
• 39% of TMCs and suppliers expect revenue to remain the same as 2025, while only 14% on average expect a decrease.
Business Travel Operating Budgets Remain Steady to Growing, With Some Concerns
• 75% of travel buyers expect their overall 2026 budget for travel management operations to increase (30%) or stay consistent with 2025 (45%). Among those expecting an increase, 20% anticipate less than 10% growth. However, 18% expect their 2026 operational budget to decrease.
• Program cost savings and control is a bigger concern for U.S. travel buyers (74%) compared to other regions (62% non-U.S.).
Affordability, Border Mobility and Traveler Safety Lead 2026 Concerns
• Buyers are most concerned about the affordability of business travel (70%), the ease of obtaining entry/exit permissions and visas (65%) and employee safety (56%).
• Affordability (76%) and ease of entry/exit permissions (57%) are noted as most prominent among U.S. buyers. Entry/exit permissions are cited as a high concern among buyers with employees taking more than 10,000 trips per year (79%) and among suppliers (72%).
• 45% of suppliers are concerned about the willingness of travel and procurement managers to explore and change existing supplier/TMC partners in 2026.
• In terms of cost and satisfaction, buyers cited as big or major challenges in 2026 balancing cost controls with traveler satisfaction (59%) and prices rising above budget (58%).
ESTA: Cross-Border Requirements Under Pressure
The U.S. government is proposing stricter ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) requirements for travelers visiting or transiting the U.S. from 42 currently visa-free countries.
• Among respondents who frequently send employees to the U.S., 42% are very concerned and 36% are somewhat concerned.
• Professionals are most concerned about managing travel to the U.S. (65%), increased challenges with sending people to the U.S. (64%), costs of doing business in the U.S. (63%), employee willingness to travel to the U.S. (61%), and challenges of hosting meetings in the U.S. (53%).
• European travel professionals are particularly concerned about privacy— two in three (67%) say employees would rather not travel to the U.S. than provide such personal information.
• Many respondents say their companies are more likely to hold more meetings outside the U.S. (43%), decrease near-term business travel to the U.S. (29%), decrease U.S. travel over the long term (25%), and change travel policies to limit U.S. travel (19%).
• Buyer, supplier and TMC respondents also feel employees may be less willing to travel to the U.S. (64%), and that planning U.S. travel is unpredictable and risky (60%).
Business Travel AI: Automation or Transformation?
• For artificial intelligence initiatives, professionals cite pricing optimization (65%) and predictive analytics (64%) as areas of highest interest. Buyers believe AI’s current impact is improving buyer data analysis and internal storytelling (45%) and automating reporting and analytics (42%).
Methodology
The online poll was conducted January 5-18, 2026, and with responses from 571 GBTA respondents across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.For more information and to access the full poll results, visit GBTA Research.
About GBTA
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization serving stakeholders across six continents. GBTA and its 9,000+ members represent and advocate for the $1.57 trillion global business travel and meetings industry. GBTA and the GBTA Foundation deliver world-class education, events, research and advocacy to a growing global network.
Debbie Iannaci
Global Business Travel Association
diannaci@gbta.org
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