While business travel drives critical business outcomes, it can also come with challenges for organizations and employee travelers alike. These challenges can sometimes make the pursuit of the “perfect business trip” seem like a distant fantasy. Yet, it is an aspiration the industry can work to achieve — with travel managers identifying various technological innovations that can reduce friction and drive trip success. This is according to new research released today by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s largest business travel association, in partnership with Direct Travel, Spotnana, and Troop.
Findings from “The Perfect Business Trip,” a report stemming from a survey of U.S.- and Canada-based corporate travel managers outlines the challenges they face in their travel programs including the use of online booking tools (OBTs) and addressing travel disruptions, as well as managing travel management companies (TMCs), meetings programs, and expense reporting and insights.
Achieving a more ‘perfect’ business trip is within our reach through industry innovation and collaboration. Our latest research pinpoints the key challenges and offers technological solutions to ultimately transform business travel into a more seamless experience for both travelers and travel managers. Suzanne Neufang, CEO, GBTA
Corporate travel managers cite their top sources of friction
When asked to rate the level of friction experienced with key aspects of their travel program, 57% of travel managers responded that the online booking experience for unprofiled guest travel brought at least some friction along with it, closely followed by the management of travel disruptions (55%) and expense reports (50%), as well as the travel management company (TMC) servicing process (50%) and the online booking experience for meeting and event travel (50%).
The survey also found that rising travel costs continue to be viewed as a challenge despite stabilizing travel prices, with more than half of travel buyers (53%) calling it the single greatest challenge they face in managing costs.
Meanwhile, travel programs continue to struggle with “leakage” for bookings made outside of “managed” channels like TMCs or OBTs. Most travel managers (67%) said their company’s air travel leakage increased (19%) or stayed the same (48%) over the past year. Hotel leakage is an even bigger challenge, with a total of 81% reporting that it grew (24%) or stayed the same (57%).
This is more than a wake-up call—it’s a signal that the future of managed travel is already taking shape. Travel managers want intelligent, connected solutions that meet today’s needs and anticipate tomorrow’s challenges. That’s exactly what we’re building with Avenir—a platform powered by leading partners like Spotnana and TROOP, designed to integrate global content, automation, and high-touch service into one seamless experience. By combining smart technology with trusted support, we’re delivering the perfect trip from start to finish. Christal Bemont, CEO of Direct Travel
Despite slow adoption, NDC shows promise as buyers experience OBT challenges
New Distribution Capability (NDC) has the potential to drive savings and a better shopping experience. Yet, NDC continues to face a slow road to adoption, with more than one-third of buyers (37%) saying their program is not making any NDC bookings. An additional one-fifth (22%) say NDC bookings account for less than 10% of their program’s overall air bookings.
The single most cited reason why? Over half of travel managers (54%) surveyed say their TMC cannot adequately support NDC (28%), and there isn’t enough NDC content available through their OBT (26%).
Even when OBTs do have NDC content, they often do not have key features to support these bookings. Just 13% of buyers said their OBT supports self-services changes and cancellations for NDC bookings, while only 17% said their OBT allows employees to access free or discounted seats based on their loyalty status.
This comes as travel programs experience a number of pain points with their OBT. These include the ability to manage exchanges and cancellations (identified by 64% of buyers), the ability to manage unused tickets (54%), limited access to NDC fares (46%), access to comprehensive global content (44%), and bookings for unprofiled guest travelers (43%).
TMC innovation is a priority
A majority (58%) of travel buyers are open to switching TMCs within the next year, suggesting that improvements are clearly needed in this sector. Buyers were asked to indicate the pain points travelers experience when using their TMC, with inconsistent service quality (41%), poor technology and user experience (36%) and slow or ineffective issue resolution (32%) standing as the most common pain points.
Travel buyers say various innovations are important when it comes to TMC servicing, with 54% listing proactive disruption management among their top three desired innovations, just ahead of risk management/duty of care capabilities (46%) and the ability to easily service NDC bookings (35%). Buyers would also like to see better integration between TMCs and OBTs, with 63% noting it as a service improvement that would enhance their travelers’ experience.
Small meetings are often “unmanaged”
More than half of respondents (53%) said small meetings, those with under 25 attendees hosted by their company, are typically planned outside of a managed program. This means that companies do not have formal policies and processes for small meetings; rather, they are organized by part-time planners such as executive assistants. Companies with “unmanaged” small meetings also do not have KPIs or dedicated technology for small meetings, and they do not collect data about small meetings in a central location.
This poses a number of challenges ─ ranging from cost management to process inefficiencies and poor understanding of the ROI of small meetings.
Additional key data points from the report include:
- Only 14% of travel buyers said their company’s travel and meetings programs are mostly integrated, with 46% saying they’re mostly siloed.
- 45% of buyers identified budget uncertainty and management as a challenge in planning and managing travel for meetings at their company, while 42% noted both last-minute challenges and coordinating attendees.
- A manual and time-consuming expense submission process stood out as the most- commonly mentioned pain point in expense reporting (63%), with innovations that streamline payment and expense processes being viewed as the most important, such as automated receipt capture and matching (55%).
Methodology
A total of 166 responses were received from travel managers across the U.S. and Canada between March 4-15, 2025.
“The Perfect Business Trip” full report can be downloaded on Direct Travel’s website here and also via the GBTA Hub here for GBTA members.
About GBTA
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premiere business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area and serving stakeholders across six continents. GBTA and its 8,000+ members represent and advocate for the $1.48 trillion global travel business and meetings industry. GBTA and the GBTA Foundation deliver world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media to a growing global network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts. For more information visit gbta.org.
About the GBTA Foundation
The mission of the GBTA Foundation, the US 501c3 charitable arm of the Global Business Travel Association, is to help the global business travel industry create a positive impact and better future for people and the planet. The GBTA Foundation focuses on the strategy and execution of GBTA’s global sustainability programs, supporting initiatives related to climate action; diversity, equity and inclusion; and other talent-related topics via education, research and advocacy. For more information visit gbtafoundation.org.
