Resurgence of Business Travel: Four Emerging Themes

• Business travel has regained momentum, with the global value pool projected to reach $1.5 trillion in 2024.
• Technological solutions create new opportunities in managed and unmanaged business travel sectors.

Ryan Mann, a partner in McKinsey’s Chicago office, highlights four dominant themes shaping the business travel landscape.

The first theme is the solid recovery of business travel after a few uncertain years. The World Travel & Tourism Council recently projected the global value pool for business travel in 2024 to be about $1.5 trillion, an increase of more than 6 percent compared to 2019. In the United States, the expected value is $472 billion, a 13.4 percent increase from 2019. Several factors, such as the need for face-to-face engagement and the predicted increase in meeting spending, contribute to this optimism about the future of business travel.

The second theme is the evolving marketplace for unmanaged business travel and the opportunities it presents for tech solutions. Unmanaged travel refers to situations where employees can book their travels but with less company oversight. This sector offers significant potential for value creation, especially for smaller firms that may not want to contract for a managed travel service but still desire some of its benefits.

Emerging tech solutions, such as integrating an online booking platform, expense management software, and a travel data capture service, can improve a company’s visibility into its employees’ trips and spending. AI-powered travel agent bots can also streamline the booking process while providing transparency for employers.

The third theme focuses on the digital transformation of managed business travel. Four technological advances are redefining this sector: AI-driven booking tools, direct folio billing, continuous rate monitoring, and small-meeting technology.

AI-driven booking tools can effectively nudge employees to book lodging simultaneously with flights and help ensure they stay at properties that honor negotiated rates. Direct folio billing provides real-time control and visibility over hotel spending for corporate travel managers. Continuous rate monitoring ensures employees receive appropriate rates for travel bookings based on market conditions and negotiated contracts. Small-meeting technology offers a different approach to space and billing, which is essential for companies with fully remote or hybrid workplaces.

The final theme is the blurring lines between business and leisure travel. The increased flexibility around remote work has led to a subset of corporate travelers extending their stays at destinations, alternating leisure days with work days. This trend could make long-stay properties increasingly essential components of corporate travel.

The industry should attempt to solve for the whole human—referencing each individual’s personal travel history, not just a particular trip in isolation—when designing tools to execute, for instance, booking nudges or on-property offers and experiences. This approach can enhance business outings by incorporating elements that inspire and energize travelers during leisure travel.

Discover more at McKinsey & Company.