Corporates are feeling the effects of 24 months of price hikes

Business travel volumes are expected to continue growing in 2024, while air fares, hotel rates and car rental costs are expected to rise at a more moderate rate, according to Business Travel News’s 2024 Outlook. After the dramatic price increases of 2022, the rate at which travel costs rose in 2023 slowed and is expected to do so again in 2024.

Business travel budgets are also poised to increase, but the extent of which will be determined by ongoing inflationary pressure and geopolitical tensions, particularly in relation to the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, said Lauren Arena, writing for Business Travel News.

The significant need to reduce travel-related carbon emissions will continue to impact both travel buyers and suppliers. Catherine Logan, regional senior vice president EMEA & APAC at the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), predicted: “Companies are expected to prioritise sustainable travel programmes, incorporating initiatives like multimodal travel and sustainable aviation fuel, and at the same time balance the priorities of the business traveller as new working patterns continue to evolve.”

An increasing number of organisations now operate flexible, hybrid or remote working models. With internal meetings set to drive growth in the global meetings and events (M&E) market over the next 12 months, the need to bring teams together to meet face-to-face will continue into 2024, said Arena. In turn, meeting budgets are also on the rise, with a spending increase of 2.8% expected in Europe in 2024.

Notably, various predictions in Business Travel News’s 2023 Outlook published in December 2022 came to fruition, with supply chain disruption and an ever-evolving tech landscape being flagged. Julie Lo Bue-Said, CEO of the Advantage Travel Partnership, correctly predicted ongoing content complexity and significant operational gaps when it came to new distribution capability (NDC).

Several other contributors had pointed to ongoing challenges related to staff shortages.

However, no one anticipated the magnitude of interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT in 2023, or the speed at which it could improve efficiencies in the business travel sector, said Arena. In some cases, corporate travel managers have begun to pilot new AI integrations to explore different use cases, she said, while others predict 2024 will see an even more widespread implementation of AI and chat technologies, replacing human-based services.

A comprehensive report on the business travel market has been put together by the team at Research and Markets.