Deloitte released the results of its 2024 Corporate Travel Study earlier this week and one thing stood out to me, corporate travel is back.
While I have always been interested in aviation, it wasn’t until I started traveling every week for work that my knowledge around airline loyalty programs, lounges, and points really took off. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic I was flying roughly 100 flights a year and staying between 150-175 nights a year in hotels.
When the lockdowns hit, that all came to a screeching halt. One of my last flights, early in the pandemic, had more passengers in First Class than Economy. From then on, the travel landscape shifted dramatically.
Leisure travel demand came roaring back with a vengeance during the summer of 2021 and remained strong for a few years after. While that has started to slow due to rising expenses at home, companies are spending more. According to the Deloitte survey, travel spend for us based companies is expected to reach, and possibly surpass 2019 levels.
According to the study:
- Business travelers are packing their briefcases more regularly, as trip frequency per-traveler is up compared to last year. In 2024, 20% of travelers expect to take six to 10 trips (versus 15% in 2023), and 10% say they will take more than 10 trips (up from 7% in 2023).
- Company travel spend is on the rise. Most travel managers surveyed expect their organizations’ spend to grow in both 2024 (73%) and 2025 (58%). For those projecting gains, expectations average out to 14-15% each year. However, travel managers expect that to slow by a couple of percentage points come 2025.
- Amid the return to conference rooms and airport lounges, 83% of those surveyed consider business travel to be 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.
- Many travelers surveyed also find chances to enjoy the trip without the business: Two-thirds of corporate travelers say they extended a business trip for leisure in 2023. One in 7 say they did so three or more times.
What is Driving the Uptick in Travel
Conferences and client visits are seen as the main drivers for corporate travel in 2024 as people look to re-ignite in-person collaboration lost during the pandemic. This is something that I have seen firsthand across the industry. Even when projects are remote, and teams are scattered across the country, people are getting together for more face to face meetings.
Eileen Crowley, vice chair, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and U.S. transportation, hospitality and services attest leader, said this:
“Business travel has been slower to come back following pandemic slowdowns, but this could be the year that it accelerates to new heights. More employees are traveling for business — and enjoying it — underscoring that in-person connection often remains a critical component. As companies see a renewed benefit in the opportunities business travel provides, business leaders can capitalize on the enthusiasm and prioritize travel experiences that are valuable to both the organization and employee.”
Eileen Crowley, Deloitte & Touche LLP
While conferences are causing more employees to travel, sales and client project work are the biggest drivers of frequency. According to the study, roughly one in five frequent travelers has traveled once per month or more for client work (23%) or sales and relationship building (21%).
Airlines and hotel groups are taking note of this increased corporate travel demand and taking tougher negotiating stances. American has bucked this trend with the rollback of punitive changes to its AAdvantage Business program.
The Changing Travel Landscape
With business travel suppressed for so long, we’ve seen airlines pivot towards more leisure oriented travelers. Specifically, there has been an increase in premium leisure travel demand and airlines have opened more lounges and added more premium seats to planes.
With more passengers buying premium seats directly and airline loyalty programs shifting towards earning status based on spend instead of flights, the travel environment will look a lot different for business travelers in comparison to pre-pandemic.
Personally, I’m still doing more leisure travel than business travel but I’m definitely noticing an increase. If you’re a data nerd like me and want to read the full survey results, you can check it out here.
Summary
A recent study and accompanying survey by Deloitte shows that Corporate Travel is on the rise. 2024 is expected to match 2019, the last full year of pre-pandemic flying, in terms of corporate travel spending. It will be interesting to watch how the travel landscape continues to evolve as more businesspeople take to the skies!
Has anyone else noticed an uptick in their business travel this year?
