Tech Revolution Flips the Script for Travel Management Strategy in 2025

We’re on the cusp of a major rethink of the entire corporate travel tech stack, both commercially and technologically. Cracks in the tech foundation have been creeping along more and more the past few years, and 2025 will see them dramatically accelerate even further.

We’ve seen similar shifts in the tech stacks underpinning hospitality, airline distribution and traditional travel agency segments, but until now the corporate travel sector has remained largely resistant to any massive refactoring. This was due more to commercial interests than technology limitations.

On the commercial front, we’re going to see much more deal activity than we’ve seen in the past few years. I’m writing this from Washington, D.C. on January 20 (no, I wasn’t invited to the inauguration!), and a distinct vibe shift is already underway. The new administration taking over is expected to take a more favorable view of M&A activity; coupled with a resuscitated IPO market and interest rates finally leveling off after some painful post-ZIRP (zero interest rate policy) era medicine, we should expect more consolidation among the TMC ecosystem and more vertical M&A.

This will have several downstream implications:

First, it will unlock a meaningful amount of capital that can be reinvested in more innovation, funding new startups and development projects within larger companies. We have no shortage of interesting ideas across the corporate travel sector, and 2025 will see many of these start to take flight.

Second, we’ll see many startups get acquired and folded into larger enterprises. This includes many of the venture-backed startups founded during the pandemic that got stuck in a frothy valuation climate and haven’t been able to grow into those valuations. In many cases these are strong products that solve real problems. Finding a new home will enable these products to thrive and meet market needs more efficiently as part of a larger platform.

Finally, we will see reduced competition in some corners of the market. Fewer TMCs mean corporate buyers and suppliers will have to be more strategic in managing program and distribution costs in the short term. Vertical M&A will create more opportunities for cost efficiencies in some areas via all-in-one solutions but may introduce greater complexity in others, for those who don’t want to go that all-in-one route.

From a technology perspective, there is no shortage of amazing developments that are already making their way into the corporate travel sector. Many of these will drive major changes for how travel is managed as well. A few developments I think are worth watching:

GenAI eliminates traditional corporate booking tool and expense report (insert praying hands emoji). With exponential growth in computing power and advances in voice, speech and natural language processing, the way travelers search for, book and expense their business trips is going to render clunky booking tools and expense reports obsolete.

Supplier-direct bookings take over. As GenAI revolutionizes travel search and loyalty programs get smarter, more transaction volume will accrue directly to suppliers and away from the TMC. This has implications for the role of TMCs and travel managers, who will shift focus to service and support instead of transactions.

Digital identity and universal profiles. Having all your loyalty program details, travel preferences, passport/license information, and corporate associations (including travel policy) in a digital wallet that you own and control will make data inherently interoperable across platforms. This in turn makes it more useful in real-time contexts for things like expense approval, risk management and policy compliance—no matter where travel was booked.

The role of the travel manager. All of these developments will mean a radical shift in the nature of the travel manager’s role, from policy and procurement police to a true strategic leader. At the core of any travel program are the actual travelers—typically the employees who are on the front lines of revenue generation. These are some of the most important assets in your company, so it makes sense to treat your corporate travel program like any other strategic asset in your business.

This serendipitous combination of a market that is primed and ready to invest, with a technology ecosystem that is already percolating with innovative ideas will make 2025 a year of massive transformation for the corporate travel sector. Gen Alpha will regard us fondly as the ones who freed them from the tyranny of the corporate booking tool and horrors of expense reporting—not a bad legacy!