Gen Z business travelers generally are eager to hit the road for work, though they are more prone to hit snags during business travel than their older counterparts, according to a survey of more than 1,800 business travelers published by American Express Global Business Travel.
The survey—which was conducted by Ipsos U.K. in September 2024 and included responses from 1,000 U.S. business travelers and 817 U.K. business travelers—showed 70 percent of Gen Z travelers, defined in the survey as aged 18 to 28, said they look forward to traveling for work. However, 52 percent of Gen Z travelers in the survey said business travel was fairly or very stressful, compared with 38 percent of Millennials (aged 29 to 44) and 34 percent of Gen X travelers (aged 45 to 58).
Gen Z travelers also were more likely to say they experienced disruption during their trip with 45 percent citing a moderate to large amount of disruption, compared with 36 percent of Millennial respondents and 32 percent of Gen X respondents. The younger generation also is a little less sold on the benefits of business travel. While 53 percent of Gen Z respondents said face-to-face time with colleagues had "no substitute," that was less than the 59 percent of Millennials and 63 percent of Gen Xers who said the same.
"Gen Z's ambivalence could reflect their typically less senior roles, lower pay and shorter engagement with their employers," the report said. "We could expect views to improve over time as they age. But perhaps there is a unique cohort difference; their reticence may need to be managed over time, too."
The survey showed most travelers across generations still want to speak with someone who can help in times of disruptions, though less so with Gen Z travelers. About two-thirds of Gen Z travelers in the U.S. said they like having live assistance, compared with 74 percent of U.S. Millennials and 78 percent of U.S. Gen Xers. In the U.K., 61 percent of Gen Z respondents, 76 percent of Millennial respondents and 69 percent of Gen X respondents said the same.
Overall, travelers were slightly less interested in using digital tools to find their own solutions in times of disruption than they were with getting human help, with 64 percent of U.S. respondents and 63 percent of U.K. respondents saying that was their preference. Gen Z respondents in the U.S. were the least likely to want to use digital tools in that situation, with 56 percent indicating that preference.
In terms of confidence in generative AI in managing business travel, Gen Z was more aligned with Gen X in the survey, while Millennials tended to be more comfortable with the technology. For example, about two-thirds of Millennials said they would be comfortable with AI completing expense reports and booking plane travel and hotels. For Gen Z, 53 percent said they were comfortable with AI completing expense reports and 60 percent were comfortable with AI booking plane travel and hotels. Among Gen X respondents, 57 percent were comfortable with AI completing expense reports, 61 percent were comfortable with the technology booking hotels and 55 percent were comfortable with it booking plane travel.
Millennials, particularly those in the U.S., also were the most likely to pursue blended travel, according to the survey. Sixty-eight percent of U.S. Millennial respondents said they had added leisure travel to a planned work trip, compared with 65 percent of Gen X and 55 percent of Gen Z respondents in the U.S. There was less disparity among the generations in the U.K., with 61 percent of Gen Z travelers, 62 percent of Millennial travelers and 56 percent of Gen X travelers saying they had added leisure travel to a work trip.