Business Travel in 2025: Why It’s Essential, Yet Harder Than Ever
Business travel in 2025 looks nothing like it did just a few years ago. What was once a straightforward part of corporate life—boarding a plane, attending meetings, sealing deals—has become a complex balancing act shaped by shifting employee expectations, tighter budgets, health and safety concerns, and the rise of virtual alternatives. Companies are under pressure to make every trip count, while travelers themselves are juggling enthusiasm for face-to-face connections with growing fatigue, cost sensitivities, and a desire for flexibility.
This tension sits at the heart of the seventh annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey, which gathered perspectives from over 5,000 business travelers, travel managers, and CFOs across the globe. The results paint a picture of an industry in transition: travel is seen as essential to career success and company growth, yet nearly every group acknowledges significant barriers—from safety concerns and misaligned policies to budget constraints and differing views on the role of technology.
The study doesn’t just highlight numbers; it reveals contradictions. Travelers overwhelmingly want to get back on the road, but many admit they’d turn down a trip under the wrong conditions. Budgets appear stable or even rising, but restrictions on spending make the experience feel constrained. And while executives, managers, and travelers all recognize the value of business trips, their perspectives on who should control decisions—and how much flexibility employees deserve—often diverge.
Against this backdrop, the survey provides an important snapshot of where business travel stands in 2025, and where it might go next.
1. Willing—but with Reservations: The Traveler’s Paradox
Nearly 97% of business travelers express willingness to travel in the coming year. An impressive 94% consider business travel either helpful (39%) or essential (55%) to their professional success—though a gender gap emerges, with 58% of men versus 49% of women calling it essential.
Yet enthusiasm isn’t unconditional. Roughly 90% would consider declining a trip if circumstances warrant—particularly due to safety or social concerns (40%), health risks (38%), or travel fatigue (26%). Additionally, only 51% feel their current travel frequency is ideal—30% travel too much, 19% too little, and 64% of fully remote workers feel misaligned, compared to those working hybrid (45%) or onsite (46%).
Air travel anxiety is also front of mind: 58% harbor safety concerns, though 41% say it won’t affect their plans. Notably, even among those highly willing to travel, 53% share these concerns.
2. Mixed Messages: Budgets Up, Yet Restrictions Persist
Despite global economic uncertainties, 89% of travelers, 93% of travel managers, and 90% of CFOs expect budgets to increase or remain stable in 2025. But optimism doesn’t erase constraints: 69% of travel managers feel budgets understate travel’s strategic importance, while 81% of CFOs believe limitations prevent employees from traveling as needed.
Moreover, budget cuts often take subtle forms—small restrictions that affect every trip, such as forcing lowest fares, eliminating baggage or upgrades—rather than sweeping policy changes.
3. Spending Out-of-Pocket: The Rise of “Self-Funded Comfort”
Off-budget travel is increasingly common—especially when comfort or convenience aren’t covered. A striking 85% of business travelers would put their own money toward perks like premium accommodations (38%), additional hotel nights to ease travel (35%), or upgraded seating (30%).
At the same time, cost-conscious behavior is widespread: 84% of travelers say they alter spending habits during business trips—opting for cheaper meals (36%), using personal rewards cards (34%), prepping meals (28%), or bringing home hotel amenities or leftover snacks (26%).
“Bleisure”—adding personal travel to business trips—remains popular: 27% have recently done so, although a quarter report company policies have curtailed this flexibility.
4. Disconnects Across Roles: Diverging Perspectives on Travel’s Value
A companion SAP blog fleshed out key misalignments between business travelers, travel managers, and CFOs—revealing how the same data tells very different stories to different stakeholders:
- Purpose of Travel: While 94% of travelers see travel as helpful or essential, 43% of CFOs believe a significant portion could be replaced by virtual meetings—33% of travel managers concur that remote communication poses a threat to business travel.
- Willingness to Travel: 70% of travelers feel very willing to travel (up from 67% in 2023), but 35% of travel managers remain worried about employee reluctance, and 45% of CFOs fear it could undermine business health.
- Budget Sentiment: Nearly half of travelers fear budgets will stagnate or shrink—yet only around a quarter of CFOs (24%) and travel managers (22%) share that concern, signaling a disconnect in optimism.
- Decision-Making Influence: Travelers believe both travel managers (37%) and CFOs (36%) wield similar influence. Contrarily, travel managers see themselves (43%) and CFOs (41%) in lead positions, while CFOs overwhelmingly (69%) view themselves as the dominant decision-makers.
- Budget Constraints in Action: Two-thirds of travelers report that cost restrictions have directly impacted important trips. Travel managers (69%) agree budgets undersell travel’s importance, while only 51% of CFOs somewhat agree budget limits hamper performance (29% strongly agree).
5. Looking Ahead: What Executives Can Learn
This year’s findings underscore a paradox: business travel is both essential and constrained, with enthusiasm on one hand, reservations on the other, and misaligned priorities across leadership layers.
Actionable takeaways for organizations:
- Bridge the perception gap by creating a shared data narrative—gleaning insights from aligned travel and expense platforms.
- Invest in traveler experience without compromising compliance—a strategic parity between safety, comfort, and policy.
- Address stakeholder disconnects through dialogue—align CFOs, travel managers, and travelers around realistic, shared travel goals.
SAP Concur positions their integrated T&E platforms as tools for visibility, data-driven decision-making, and harmonizing complex stakeholder expectations.
In Summary
Business travel in 2025 is not back to “normal”—it’s in flux. Travelers largely want to hit the road, but only when it’s safe, sustainable, and manageable. Budgets may be rising, but hidden constraints persist. And unless stakeholders align their expectations, organizations risk losing ground on both cost control and employee morale.
SAP Concur’s survey offers a roadmap—but it’s on business leaders to build the bridges.
