Leading global business travel management platform, TravelPerk, published its second annual Travel Disruption Report. The data reveals that travel disruptions continue to significantly impact businesses and their employees worldwide, with 78% of business travelers impacted during their work trips in 2024. The findings show that while overall disruption rates remain similar to 2023, the causes vary significantly by region, with cancellations and strikes particularly affecting European markets.

The insights are based on global research commissioned by TravelPerk in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Spain, surveying 4,000 business travelers, as well as third-party global aviation data analyzed by TravelPerk. The 2024 study reveals that more than one in four (27%) business travelers faced cancellations this year when traveling for work, while over a fifth (21%) experienced disruptions due to weather events and transport strikes.

The significant impact of travel disruption affects businesses and employees. Of those polled, 41% had missed or were late for an in-person meeting with a customer due to travel disruptions, and 40% incurred additional costs such as paying for a hotel and rebooking fees. To make up for lost time, over one-third (36%) of business travelers had to work extra hours to catch up on missed work, and 85% said that their work productivity was impacted by these disruptions. Perhaps to combat these disruptions, more and more travelers (23%) are extending their trips to stay overnight rather than return on the day.

Regional data shows striking disparities in how different markets are affected. British and German business travelers faced the highest impact from transport strikes (27% and 29% respectively) compared to just 9% in the US. Meanwhile, US travelers experienced the most cancellations during the period analyzed (139,777 flights were canceled from March to September 2024), and the highest rate of weather-related disruptions at 30%, significantly above the global average of 21%.

And it is not just weather and strikes that are impacting travel. Shockwaves were sent through the global travel industry this July due to the IT outage caused by a Crowdstrike. In July, just 57% of flights operated with no delay.

While the US has the highest volume of cancellations, analysis of third-party flight data reveals that China now leads in terms of cancellation rates at nearly 5%, followed by Canada (3%) and the US (3%). This represents a shift from 2023 when Indonesia topped the list at 13%.

Tomasz Wrzaszcz, Travel Intelligence Specialist at TravelPerk said:

“Though each region faces unique challenges, the end result for business travelers is the same: more time spent in airports, train stations or bus depots, and fewer hours of both productive working or time at home. For the TravelPerk disruptions team, it is essential to try and predict these events ahead of time, and proactively notify travelers and try to offer them multiple solutions to consider. Our priority is to help travelers to feel in control when the uncontrollable happens.”

“Travel can be unpredictable. At any moment travelers have to navigate weather changes, geo-political impact or technical faults leaving them feeling helpless, confused and frustrated.” said Kamil Jagodzinski, VP of Customer Care at TravelPerk. “When disruption occurs it’s key that our customers feel supported by being quick and efficient. Our data shows that despite technological advances, only 10% of travelers want help from a chatbot over a human customer care agent. At TravelPerk, we’ve integrated AI into our customer service teams so we can leverage this technology to handle double the volume of customer queries versus 2023, with the same number of human agents – ensuring customers are able to speak with a human when something unexpected unfolds.”

In today’s business environment, the ability to navigate travel disruptions effectively can make the difference between securing or losing crucial business opportunities, as TravelPerk customers need to travel for a variety of reasons, whether it’s to fix a wind turbine or sign the dotted line. Commenting on this, Yasmine Bratt, Chief Revenue Officer at TravelPerk, said:

“With 85% of people saying that disruptions impacted their productivity, the missed opportunity for businesses can be significant. Businesses that enable their employees to be more flexible, by arriving the night before or taking the most efficient mode of transport, can more effectively mitigate the impact of disruption – both on their employees and their bottom line.”

To mitigate some of that travel stress and ensure the business continues to run smoothly, TravelPerk launched its FlexiPerk product in 2019. This allows business travelers far more flexibility, allowing those who are signed up to the solution to cancel their trip up until two hours before they travel and still get 80% of the trip refunded.

Methodology

In partnership with market research agency OnePoll, TravelPerk surveyed 1,000 business travelers in of the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Spain (4,000 in total). The surveys were conducted from September 13 to 16, 2024.

TravelPerk combined the quantitative research data with third-party flight data between 01/03/2024 and 30/09/2024 compared to last year’s analysis to find the YoY comparison. This analysis accounted for around 18.6 million flights from 1.7K different airlines. The most common ones are American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Qatar Airways, and KLM. In terms of destinations, 275.5K different routes are covered. The countries with the most flights departing are the US, China, India, Spain, and the UK. The volume of flight cancellations relates to the number of passenger flights being involuntarily canceled within a specific timeframe. Cancellation rates relate to the percentage of flights booked that were canceled.

About TravelPerk

TravelPerk is a hyper-growth SaaS business travel platform and a pioneer in the future of business travel. Its all-in-one platform gives travelers the freedom they want while providing companies with the control they need. The result saves time, money, and hassle for everyone.

TravelPerk has an industry-leading travel inventory alongside powerful management features, 24/7 customer support, state-of-the-art technology, and consumer-grade design, all of which enable companies and organizations worldwide like Red Bull, GetYourGuide, and Aesop to get the most out of their travel.

Backed by world-class investors like SoftBank Investment Advisers, General Catalyst, Kinnevik, Greyhound Capital, Felix Capital, Target Global, LocalGlobe, Spark Capital, and Heartcore — investors in some of the most disruptive companies in tech, including Airbnb, Uber, Slack, X (Twitter), Trello, Zalando and Delivery Hero — TravelPerk is reinventing business travel with an end-to-end solution that works.

Enjoyed this? Let your friends know!