Business travel 2025: Strategic, international and increasingly digital!

Business travel 2025: Strategic, international and increasingly digital!

The Association of German Travel Management e. V. presented the VDR business travel analysis 2025 at its conference in Ingolstadt, which offers a concise overview of the current trends in the business travel sector. Despite geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainties, business travel remains a central part of economic dynamism. In 2024, around 107.1 million business trips were counted, a decrease of 8 percent compared to 2023. However, this value is 43 percent above the 2022 level. Average spending per trip increased by 7 percent to 439 euros, resulting in total spending of 47.2 billion euros - an increase of 2 percent compared to the previous year.

Companies are increasingly required to plan their business trips strategically. The focus is on bundled appointments and optimized routes to increase efficiency. In 2024, a third of trips were abroad, which represents an increase from 28 percent in the previous year; 25 percent of the trips took place within Europe. Interestingly, small and medium-sized companies have reduced their travel activity, while the potential for large companies remains constant.

Technological developments and travel safety

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in travel management. 50 percent of large companies already use this technology, while only 23 percent of small and medium-sized companies use this technology. By 2026, many companies plan to increasingly use AI in areas such as data management, communication and reporting. Another important aspect is travel security, which 92 percent of companies rate as increasingly relevant. Over half of the companies describe the relevance in this area as “significantly higher”.

Travel security not only includes compliance requirements, but also topics such as cybersecurity, occupational health precautions and risk analyses. Furthermore, 26 percent of companies have a comprehensive sustainability strategy in business travel management, and this proportion is expected to double by 2026. When it comes to environmentally friendly transportation, 63 percent of companies actively promote the use of rail, while 29 percent of companies use rail for more than half of their domestic trips.

Travel times and choice of means of transport

The willingness to accept longer travel times in order to avoid air travel has increased significantly: 82 percent of companies are prepared to accept up to three hours longer travel times. However, in cases where air travel is significantly faster and cheaper, 76 percent of companies consider air travel. This analysis highlights that business travel is becoming more international, digital and conscious, with a strong focus on quality and strategic impact.

It is already clear that business travel is undergoing a change that is fundamentally affecting not only the organizational structure, but also the mobility strategies of companies.

Further information on the VDR business trip analysis is available free of charge at geschaeftsreiseanalyse.de be retrieved. For detailed figures and trends on developments in this sector, see the article Day ticket.io as well as on Business travel to find.