Survey reveals business travel set to 'soar'

42% of corporates forecast to spend more in FY25

Flight Centre Corporate has has revealed that 40% of businesses plan to increase their travel in FY25 (July to June), while 42% of customers intend to increase their travel spend versus last year, according to its State of the Market Survey.

Utilising the Qualtrics platform to survey its customers directly, the business received a random sample of more than 500 responses from flagship brands FCM Travel and Corporate Traveller spanning the globe, providing a true reflection of travel intentions worldwide.

Overall, 10% of customers surveyed intend to travel more than 20% more, 30% plan to increase by up to 20% more, 35% believe the amount of travel will be the same, with only 10% anticipating a reduction.

As for intention to spend, six per cent of customers surveyed plan on spending over 20 per cent more on their travel, 36 per cent intend to increase by up to 20% more, 31% believe the amount spent will be similar versus last year, while only 11% anticipate reducing.

Steve Norris, managing director, EMEA of Flight Centre Travel Group, said: "Out of all the regions globally, EMEA is seeing the strongest increase in intentions to travel for business, which really highlights the opportunities that are in front of us as an industry. 

"46% of EMEA based businesses plan to increase their travel over the next year, with 15 per cent of those surveyed planning to increase their number of business trips by more than 20%.

“Even more encouraging, is that over 50 per cent of our EMEA customers across our corporate brands, FCM Travel and Corporate Traveller, plan to increase their travel spend in the coming year with 9 per cent looking at increasing their travel spend by more than 20 per cent.

“The results of this survey illustrate that business travel is absolutely a non-discretionary spend for corporations. We can see from our clients, which range from SMEs to larger multinational organisations, that business travel is a vital component to help drive growth, build relationships, and seize opportunities.

“But the benefits of business travel go beyond just opportunities for corporates. As we enter the busy travel season, the rise in business travel will have knock-on-benefits for local economies, cities and communities as people continue to utilise the ‘bleisure’ trend of adding on a holiday to the beginning or end of their trips.

“Last month we announced our record full year results, which highlighted how our corporate travel brands, FCM Travel and Corporate Traveller, are driving growth in our business.

“We’re confident we can continue to build on our already strong foundation and capitalize on the opportunity that is in front of us, while continuing to partner with our clients to navigate the complex travel landscape.”