Jo Lloyd is global head of customer management and consulting at FCM Consulting
Two months into 2025, we find ourselves navigating an unsettled political and economic landscape. Business travel management is no exception. Buyers remain uncertain about budgets and volumes and also face questions around the value of a managed travel programme.
While some new technologies and developments will support travel managers' goals this year, others will challenge even the most robust programmes. These are the five trends I believe are going to impact business travel management more than any others in 2025.
Geopolitical instability and risk
The world is not getting any simpler or more stable. There are many geopolitical issues that could – and already do – have a considerable impact on our industry. Political instability, travel risk and cyber security can all impact travel plans and our ability to move people about in safety.
For travel managers, it is increasingly vital to ensure that policy is complied with. That is not so much in the “where can I sit on the plane?” capacity, but more from a risk and liability viewpoint – knowing where people are at all times and having the structure in place to actively manage their needs is critical. Protecting against liability and ensuring the travelling workforce feel protected are two bookends of a good travel programme.
Cybersecurity is another growing concern. The industry has faced numerous data breaches, making it imperative to monitor what information is shared and with whom.
CSR and sustainability still in view
CSR will continue to have a significant focus in 2025 with corporate travel finding its baseline in how and where it can contribute to company targets. This is particularly relevant in the EU where CSRD regulations are coming into play. Other nations, like Singapore, are also starting to introduce reporting measures, so depending on the nature and footprint of your business, more could be asked of the travel team in the way of reporting.
Corporate travel programmes must fit into wider company goals and cannot exist in a vacuum. Visibility, measurement and control are the key factors that a travel programme can use in helping to underpin wider company goals. Being able to easily identify the environmental impact of a trip at the time of booking, reporting on it, and taking steps to mitigate any unavoidable carbon emissions will have a much larger focus in 2025.
Some company targets will only be met through demand management and an overall reduction of travel, therefore policy – and compliance to it – will once again become a key tool to ensuring that your travel footprint is accurately measured and monitored.
This goes hand in hand with the people aspect of CSR. Wear and tear on frequent travellers is also something to keep an eye on. Business travel can be a lot of fun but it can also mean flight delays, quick trip turnarounds and unsociable hours. Travel managers must have their finger on the pulse of the traveller experience in 2025.
AI in action, at last
While there’s been much speculation on how AI will impact travel management, many corporates and suppliers have until now only been exploring how to make the most of the available technology at hand.
We’re going see a lot of progress in this space, primarily on the supplier side. Using AI to ‘know the traveller’ and their preferences, and therefore the ability to serve them better, will gain traction in 2025. We’ve talked about personlisation for some time and those suppliers that can harness it to drive loyalty will reap the rewards.
For travel managers, AI can streamline communication, particularly during times of disruption, and improve duty of care response times. Automation will also assist in rebooking and providing real-time updates at scale. However, corporations must be mindful of data security – understanding where and how sensitive information is shared will be crucial.
Suppliers targeting end users
We’ve been talking about this for years but, as described above, technology is getting smarter, so the issue of suppliers trying to win direct business and earn loyalty is only going to grow.
My first and second points, on safety and sustainability, are reliant on ensuring that travel policy and compliance are both robust, but this trend will threaten that. Loyalty programmes with offers targeted direct to travellers are a pull away from policy. It poses a significant risk to a managed travel programme as travel managers and corporations can lose visibility of their travellers and of their carbon emissions.
Most organisations now have effective expense and ERP systems that will still highlight total spend (even if it is non-compliant), but it will not highlight traveller location or identify those travellers at risk in a crisis situation. From a duty of care and liability viewpoint, this creates a challenge for the managed travel programme.
The age-old debate of who ‘owns’ the traveller continues, but it is time for the industry to find a solution to it. Effective use of technology and management of policy should help us all find resolution to the challenge.
Defence of the managed travel programme
With the accessibility and usability of booking tools improving all the time, the visibility of spend becoming transparent through ERP tools, and ongoing feedback from frequent travellers about finding their own travel solutions, the question of why companies even need a managed travel programme at all will likely be discussed in boardrooms around the world in 2025.
Travel managers are going to need to work harder than ever to justify the value that a managed travel programme brings to an organisation. Traditional arguments – cost savings, centralised booking, or administrative support – are no longer sufficient. Organisations must reinforce the strategic advantages of managed travel, particularly in risk management and crisis response.
As history has shown, crises – whether political, environmental, or cyber-related – underscore the necessity of a structured travel management. Travellers require 24/7 support and full content access, which only a well-managed programme can provide.
Each organisation's approach will differ, influenced by culture, policy, and business objectives. However, at its core, managed travel is about ensuring employee safety while optimising cost efficiency. In a volatile world, that value proposition remains indisputable.