* The AirPlus core European markets of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Italy and the United Kingdom were analyzed. 1 Global Business Travel Industry Forecast | GBTA 2 Online travel market size worldwide | Statista 3 Sizing the prize | PWC
However, Monday remains the top choice for business flights with 29.8 % of all bookings.
While economy remains the most popular and perhaps cost-effective class for business travelers, more and more are now opting for business class tickets. Naturally, intercontinental flights see the highest share of travelers (43.7 %) opting for greater
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This goes some way to explain why businesses are now paying € 200 more on average for their flight tickets than in 2019.
comfort compared to continental (3.4 %) and domestic flights (7.1 %).
Though dipping slightly from the highs of 2022, weekend trips are still more popular than in 2019.
Traveling on a weekend is a great way to maximize a trip. Most notably, it is often a sign of business travelers setting aside time to explore a location outside of their work duty – a trend known as bleisure travel.
Digitalization
More and more processes are
taking place through digital
channels using digital devices.
This offers more convenience,
better security, and greater
access to data than ever before.
This is enabling the massive
growth we’re already witnessing
in the global online travel market,
which is expected to reach over
$ 1 trillion in value by 2030.2
Intercontinental flights lead the trend, being booked 40 days in advance in 2023 – a whole week earlier than in 2019.
Better planning, cheaper prices, more availability – there are many benefits to booking business trips early. And with corporate travelers booking over three days earlier than in 2019, they are becoming more prompt with their bookings than ever.
AI
Generative AI has been
revolutionizing industries – and that includes business travel.
IIt has the potential to enable better, more efficient travel management, helping create more time and cost- effective itineraries while streamlining customer communications and payment processes.
According to a report from PWC, an estimated $ 97.9 billion will be spent on AI worldwide in 2023. This is likely to grow significantly in 2024.3
But there’s more to the story. Based on airline ticket transaction data in our core European markets*, we’ve identified the latest trends in business travel we’ll likely see in 2024.
It’s clear that travel remains an important topic for businesses: Enhancing client relationships, improving partnerships, fostering collaboration – these are all key considerations for a competitive corporate environment.
2024 is a turning point for the business travel market. According to GBTA, global business travel spend is set to surpass pre-pandemic levels and reach $ 1.4 trillion in 2024.1
Weekend flights remain popular
Earlier ticket purchases
Trip length
stabilizing
And as businesses become more conscious of their sustainable practices, we’ve witnessed a continued drop in one-day trips over the last few years – down from 14.3 % of trips in 2019 to just 6.8 % in 2023.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen a jump in the length of the average business trip. This trend is starting to stabilize with trips now lasting just under six days, down slightly from 2022, but up from 2019.
More to look out for
That’s what our transaction data
says. But there are more trends we
are starting to see in the broader
business travel market that are worth keeping an eye on.
Business
Travel Trends
2024
World | EN
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