Part 1. Small & Midsize Enterprise Business Travel Durability

Business travel in the small and midsize segment looks to be holding up a bit better than in the larger corporate segment in the first 6 months of 2025, according to a BTN Intelligence survey of 155 business travel buyers in the SME space. BTN defines the SME travel program as companies with total annual travel and entertainment spend volume below $25 million. 

Respondents to the survey fell roughly into three segments: 30 percent spending less than $3 million in 2024, 33 percent spending $3 million to $9.9 million last year and 37 percent spending $10 million to $24.9 million.

Across these spending levels, more than half told BTN their company’s planned 2025 travel spend was higher than their actual 2024 spend. A quarter of respondents estimated 2025 travel spend volumes up more than 10 percent, while 28 percent said they were up, but by less than 10 percent over 2024 levels. One third estimated their companies’ travel spend volumes would be flat year on year, and only 13 percent of respondents said spend would drop compared to last year.

That was bright news in a year when government policy volatility and tariff whiplash has buffeted industry with ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty. And it’s a better showing than the industry overall, which BTN surveyed just a few weeks prior.

The earlier, full industry survey showed 30 percent of 145 responding companies expecting a decrease in their 2025 business travel spending. That was after a rough week of geopolitical news that included tariff “liberation day” in which the U.S. administration declared massive duties on imports from all trading partners (many of which have since been partially rescinded or suspended) as well as narratives of increased screening tactics at border crossings, including scrutiny of and denied entrance to foreign nationals based on social media activity and minor legal infractions, as the U.S. applies pressure to its international relations on several fronts.

For small and midsize businesses, those specific issues are weighing less heavily on business travel decision-making. Slightly more than 40 percent of survey respondents told BTN that recent negative economic indicators have had little to no effect on their company’s travel activity outlook for the remainder of 2025. Fully two-thirds have said the same about recent reports of immigration issues at U.S. airports.

SME Numbers Track with Supplier Perspectives

While the industry is deep into the second quarter of business for 2025, suppliers in their first-quarter earnings calls remarked on the softening in the travel sector—not just in business travel, but in the sector overall. Airlines were reticent to project earnings expectations for the full year, after several major carriers downgraded their projections in early March.

But several suppliers have remarked on the durability of the SME market even in the most volatile moments.

"We've seen … very little impact on the SMB business because these folks got to get out and run their business, and they're not going to be as quick to make decisions… [there’s] a little bit more [impact] on the big corporates," Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta said during the company’s first quarter earnings call at the end of April.

Best Western CEO Larry Cuculic backed up Nassetta’s statement with another six weeks on the results radar. He spoke with BTN at the beginning of June and said the hotel company had been focusing much of its effort on its small and midsize program Best Western Business Advantage, and that the book of business for that program had not been impacted. “[SMEs] don't cut as quickly as the large corporations might, because they're still doing business the way they have to do business,” he offered. “The small and medium enterprise business has not been, I think, as impacted as large corporate business travel.”

Some of that SME business for Hilton and Best Western may not have formal travel management company relationships, though most of BTN’s survey respondents do, whether working with big players like American Express Global Business Travel or new entrants like Navan or TravelPerk. How those companies are strategically managing their travel may be different than those companies with more less of bead on how travel supports business growth but also comes through as an upfront expense.

SME specialist TMC AmTrav—acquired by TravelPerk last year—continues to watch the numbers closely. CEO Jeff Klee spoke to Business Travel News in June and noted a relatively small discrepancy in May numbers. He says it would be premature, however, to identify any kind of trend.

“Up until a few days ago, there were some anecdotal things of maybe some accounts trying to cut back on travel or get stricter on policy before tariffs [kicked in]. But as far as hard data through April, nothing looked different,” he said.

“In May we did a comparison of existing accounts that had been with us for at least a year, and we did see a drop of like a mid-single digit percentage. That’s not insignificant, so we’re paying attention to it to figure out, ‘is this a trend or is this a blip?’ and we just need another month to understand more.”

The Minority Report

While clearly a minority—and one that may be offset by increases experienced by more bullish organizations—BTN data showed a full 26 percent of surveyed SME business travel buyers managing programs that have been significantly or very significantly impacted by recent economic swings. Whether that means they were planning for higher budgets and had to cut back to flat budgets year over year or went from flat budgets into reductions for their travel programs can’t be pinpointed by the data in BTN’s survey.

The same percentage indicated their companies have put new processes in place to limit travel in 2025. It’s worth noting here that these may not be the same companies, despite the one-to-one appearance of the data point. Plenty of companies with rising budgets may be putting new policies in place to limit travel, as travel costs are rising significantly and many companies noted in BTN’s survey that they are struggling to keep even their higher budgets in check.  

Certainly, however, small and midsize companies cutting back on travel spend may need to include new, more restrictive controls around what travel is approved and what travel isn’t. One SME buyer, in an open response field in BTN’s survey wrote, “We work in private equity, so any tariffs, travel restrictions, etc., could have a huge impact on the investment industry. This will ultimately affect our travel program.” Another buyer was much more specific. “We have to cut all travel budgets by 40 percent due to the tariff crisis,” they wrote. “Prioritizing what travel and what meetings will or will not be held has been a very big challenge.”

Some buyers based in the U.S., however, have shared that some of the shifts that impacted them most were those  induced by government spending reduction—or at least the threat of it. And it’s not just spending directly budgeted for travel but also for more general-purpose funding for education and research institutions. “We are a university that relies heavily on federal funding, and the uncertainty [at the government level] has caused a lot of issues for our travel program.”

In terms of tightening travel processes, spend management was not the only concern among BTN’s SME respondent base. One buyer noted their company now requires “pre-trip approvals from overseas management at two levels” in order for overseas employees to travel to the United States.

SMEs Show Confidence in Travel Management

While 25 percent should not be considered “edge case” in terms of having real challenges to their travel programs, the vast majority of SME survey respondents projected confidence in their programs despite challenges.

At the smaller end of the spend spectrum, a number of buyers told BTN they were managing travel for the first time and are eager to pull the right levers to optimize the benefits for their businesses.

One said: “We are currently implementing a T&E tool and a travel policy and we will go from a complete unmanaged program to a fully managed one with mandatory use of the OBT.” Another buyer said their small travel program of less than $3 million in spend annually had been in place for a year and was ready for next steps.

“We started our managed travel program in 2024 and implemented an online booking tool, a first for the organization,” the buyer wrote. “In 2025, I need to show the value of the program and relationship with the TMC. We also need to tackle the final 25 percent of non-compliant participation in the program.”

More experienced SME program managers showed a mounting level of sophistication, citing New Distribution Capability adoption and diversification of content channels, elevated sourcing strategies and awareness of data analytics to drive their programs. While those just moving into managed travel were getting the basics in place, SME buyers with years behind them, are clearly seeing a changing industry and the need to flex their programs and models to tackle the changing reality for their travelers.