New GBTA poll taps into outlook for business travel in 2026
As the industry rolls into 2026, a new report indicates that global business travel professionals are “cautiously optimistic” as the industry enters the year ahead — despite concerns over balancing travel budgets with costs, traveller safety and satisfaction, and potentially stricter U.S. border and visa requirements.
According to the poll by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), organizations expect their corporate travel budgets to hold or rise and anticipate modest increases in trip volumes and revenue.
And it notes that balancing cost control with traveller satisfaction will remain a central challenge, along with managing traveler safety related to travel-disruptive situations.
However, it also reported that potentially, new cross‑border requirements pose a risk to international mobility and employee willingness to travel.
The GBTA polled 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.
Suzanne Neufang, CEO, GBTA, said that: “The results show an industry propelled by anticipated stronger demand and financial indicators. Yet there is potential for disruption caused by external factors reshaping business travel in the year ahead,” “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, the GBTA poll found that there was “cautious optimism” for the year ahead with six in ten (59%) industry professionals polled — and consistent among buyers, suppliers, TMCs and regions — say they are optimistic about the industry this year. Globally, about a third (31%) of respondents, on average, cite a neutral outlook.
Yet while the majority are optimistic, trade, cross-border and economic headwinds have left their mark on travel buyers — their outlook for 2026 is down 12 percentage points versus coming into 2025 (based on GBTA’s November 2024 poll).
But the GBTA also reported in the poll that a vast majority of buyers (84%) expect their organization’s 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.
In terms of concerns, travel buyers are most concerned about the affordability of business travel (70%), followed by the ease of obtaining entry/exit permissions and visas (65%) and employee safety (56%).
Those top concerns are relatively consistent across markets and roles. However, 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 particularly among buyers with employees taking more than 10,000 trips per year (79%), as well as among suppliers (72%).
Also of concern is the U.S. government proposing stricter ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) requirements for travellers visiting or transiting the U.S. from 42 currently visa-free countries, including mandatory disclosure of long-term social media, contact and family information, plus possible biometric selfies and a mobile app–only process.
GBTA’s poll indicated that the proposed changes threaten to impact visa entry/exit systems and shake confidence in travel to the U.S. Among respondents who say their organization frequently sends employees to the U.S., three in four state they are very (42%) or somewhat (36%) concerned.
And industry professionals are most concerned about managing travel to the U.S. (65%), increased challenges associated 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%).
Go to www.gbta.org for more.
