SAP Concur has published its 2025 Global Business Travel Survey, which has revealed that 89% of business travellers, 93% of travel managers, and 90% of CFOs expect their organisation’s travel budget to increase or stay the same this year.
The company dug a little deeper into its Concur Travel data to understand the motives behind it.
SAP Concur analysed international air travel bookings in Concur Travel between January 1, 2025, and June 30, 2025, and compared destinations, airfare, and overall travel volume to 2024 bookings during the same period.
It found international business travel volume was up, increasing 2.6% globally in the first half of 2025 compared to the first half of 2024.
Taking a closer, volume increased 4.5% year over year in Q1 and 0.6% year over year in Q2.
Business travellers from the US paid the most for international flights, paying $2,675 per ticket on average.
These travellers often fly great distances for international travel instead of to nearby countries. Similarly, business travellers from Japan paid about $1,950 per ticket.
In comparison, Italian travellers average airfare was $719, with their main destinations being nearby in Europe.
International business travel volume between Canada and the US didn’t change in the first half of this year.
Nearly 80% of Canada’s business travellers landed in the U.S and that number has remained consistent year-over-year.
2025’s top international travel destinations globally was the US in first place, followed by Germany and the UK taking the top. Canada, France and Spain were all in the top six.
The US is the top destination for international business travellers worldwide as it accounted for 15.3% of all international business trips in the first half of this year. Travel to Germany and the UK, in the second and third spots, made up 7.7% and 7.6%, respectively, by comparison.
Q1 continues to anchor annual travel volume, while global volume rose 2.6% year over year, Q2 travel declined 8.4% compared to Q1.
The first quarter of the year is historically the busiest quarter for business travel so a decline in Q2 is not surprising.
Airfares are steady despite global shifts with average international ticket prices held relatively flat across 2024 and into 2025.
After peaking at $1,688 in Q1 2024, the average ticket price landed at $1,681 and $1,684 in the first two quarters of 2025, signaling pricing stability even amid rising demand.
The top travel destinations for the UK were the US, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Ireland.
The US destinations represented 20% of all international business trips from the UK in the first half of this year.
In second place, Germany represents 13% and Netherlands came in third at 7.7%.
Travel volume for the first half of this year compared to the first half of last year was fairly flat, up 0.5%.
Looking closer, volume increased 2.5% year over year in Q1 but declined 1.6% year over year in Q2.
While travel volume might be consistent, average airfare costs were up. In the first quarter of this year, ticket prices were up 6.2% year over year at an average $1,477 per ticket.
Similarly, in the second quarter, ticket prices were up 7.8% year over year at an average $1,460 per ticket.
“While we continue to track emerging trends through our market-leading booking platform, and one thing is clear: Business travellers are back in motion,” said Charlie Sultan, president of Concur Travel at SAP Concur.
“Encouragingly, 94% of them say business travel is either helpful or essential to succeed in their role. That’s a powerful signal that travel remains a key driver of business performance.”
