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Business Travel Gets Shorter, More Purposeful

September 11, 2025

Business travel is no longer the default — according to new research, business travelers are becoming more selective to ensure every trip counts.

Business travel once was ubiquitous, with execs flying regularly to visit remote clients and offices and to attend meetings and events. They’re still traveling for work, but new research from global travel management company ALTOUR indicates that today’s business travelers are adopting a more strategic, value-driven approach that prioritizes personalized service, trip efficiency and smarter spend.

Key findings from the ALTOUR Business Travel Index:

Business travel demand remained flat from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025, driven mainly by macroeconomic conditions and overall fiscal uncertainty. Domestic travel has dipped slightly (down 1%), while international bookings are up, reflecting a more selective and strategic approach to business travel. Overall, business travel spend for air and hotel overall experienced a 0% change year over year.
Business travelers are booking shorter trips this year — but not eliminating them. Hotel spend has decreased, even as average daily room rates (ADRs) have stayed flat or just increased slightly. According to the ALTOUR data, the decreased hotel spend, coupled with the growth in air, indicates that business travelers are booking shorter business trips, but not canceling trips altogether.
They’re downgrading flights — but not by a lot. While business and first-class air travel has just crept up by 3% year over year, economy seat sales have increased by 10%, an indication that road warriors are still traveling as companies focus on new sales as well as servicing existing clients. But the real sweet spot between comfort and cost for business travelers appears to be premium economy. With a 25% year-over-year increase, this is now the fastest-growing cabin class. According to ALTOUR, this suggests that senior managers are either trading down to save money or flying less to reduce discretionary spend.
Business events and conferences are the top reason to travel for both executives and occasional business travelers. Thirty percent of executives cited business events and conferences as their primary reason to travel, edging internal company meetings by 1%. For occasional business travelers, the percentage was even higher — 35% — 7% more than said they travel primarily for internal company meetings. Internal company trainings and visiting clients and prospects were much lower priorities for both groups. Only road warriors cited visiting clients/prospects as their top priority for travel, at 34%.
Bleisure is still a thing. Almost 40% of business travelers said they frequently or always extend work trips for leisure. That number climbs to 59% for international travelers and 56% for executives, presenting new opportunities for more tailored, experience-rich itineraries.
The more senior the corporate business traveler, the more they tend to value human travel advisors. While 51% of travelers use online tools, nearly half (49%) prefer working with travel advisors. That rises to 70% for C-suite executives, who tend to appreciate having expert support for complex, high-stakes trips.

“We’re seeing smarter, more purposeful travel in 2025,” said Gabe Rizzi, President of ALTOUR. “Companies are being more selective, focusing on trips that truly matter, where face-to-face connection drives business impact. Whether it’s choosing premium economy to balance comfort and cost or turning to expert advisors for more complex itineraries, the emphasis is on making every journey count. It reflects exactly what we strive for at ALTOUR: helping our clients navigate complexity so their people can show up at their best, wherever business takes them.”

The ALTOUR Business Travel Index combines aggregated booking data with proprietary survey insights from U.S.-based business travelers, offering a comprehensive view of the behaviors shaping today’s corporate travel landscape.

The full ALTOUR Business Travel Index is available here.