A majority of buyers and suppliers each expect business travel spending levels to hold steady or increase this year, though concerns about cost and stricter U.S. entry requirements loom large, according to a Global Business Travel Association survey of 571 buyers and suppliers.
In the survey, conducted from Jan. 5 through Jan. 18, 44 percent of buyers said their organization' business travel spending would increase year over year in 2026, with an average 12 percent increase expected among those buyers. An additional 40 percent said 2026 spending will stay at 2025 levels and 13 percent expect a year-over-year decrease in spending.
In terms of business travel volume, more than a third of buyers in the survey said they expect their organization will take more trips this year than in 2025, with an average increase in trips of 14 percent among them. Just under half of buyers said business trip volume will hold at 2025 levels. Sixteen percent of buyers expect business trip volume to decline year over year in 2026, and among buyers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 25 percent expect a decline this year, according to GBTA.
Supplier expectations are in line with buyer expectations, with 47 percent of suppliers and travel management companies in the survey expecting higher revenues in 2026 compared with 2025. Thirty-nine percent of suppliers and TMCs expect flat revenues year over year, and 14 percent expect revenues will decline.
Business travel affordability topped travel buyer worries for 2026, with 70 percent of buyer respondents naming it as a concern. The ease of obtaining entry and exit permissions and visas was a close second, named as a concern by 65 percent of buyers, GBTA said.
The poll highlighted buyer concerns related to planned changes by the U.S. government to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, with proposals to require applicants to disclose extensive social media history, family information and other personal data. Nearly 80 percent of total respondents said they were very or somewhat concerned about those proposed changes.
Among those who said they were concerned by the proposals, 64 percent said they thought the requirements would make business travelers less willing to travel to the U.S, and 60 percent said the proposal made them think planning business travel to the U.S. was "unpredictable and risky" even if the proposals ultimately are not adopted. In that same subset, 43 percent said the requirements would make them somewhat or very likely to consider holding more meetings outside of the U.S., and 28 percent said it made them somewhat or very likely to either decrease or warn against travel to the U.S. in the short term.
On the affordability question, 60 percent of buyers said balancing cost controls with traveler satisfaction was a major challenge or one of their biggest challenges. Nearly the same percent said the same about prices rising faster than their budget allows.
"The results show an industry propelled by anticipated stronger demand and financial indicators," GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang said in a statement. "Yet, there is potential for disruption caused by external factors reshaping business travel in the year ahead."