Business Travel in 2025

It is the period of the year to look ahead to the future. In this article, we would like to share the first four trends in the field of business travel that we have spotted for you.

Business travel has never been more worthwhile valuable and important for guaranteeing corporate success. Its importance is set to increase over the coming years. If we look ahead to 2025, we see the following – (seemingly contradictory) developments: technology is leading the way and at the same time the human aspect is gaining in importance. That apparent contradiction fades soon when it appears that both trends are reinforcing each other and will keep each other in balance.

1) BLEISURE IS NO LONGER A BUZZ WORD

This melding of "business" and "leisure" refers to the combination of business travel and leisure in a single trip. It is mainly the Millennial generation, which already represents half of the working population, that is further shaping this trend. More than ever, millennials are looking for a better work-life balance. They view bleisure as the ideal way to explore exotic destinations, save on otherwise expensive holidays or unwind at the end of a gruelling workweek full of meetings and business discussions.

Corporate travel is our core business, but we also offer a strong range of holiday trips in the field of leisure, with a focus on customization.

2) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS TAKING OVER

By 2025, the combination of AI, virtual reality and machine learning will contribute more than $13 billion to the global economy, with more than half of that due to increased productivity. In the future, simple tasks such as security warnings, flight status updates, etc., will be further automated and Travel Management Companies (TMCs) will be able to concentrate fully on their services and customer support rather than on basic logistics. As AI technologies become more sophisticated, they will be able to translate in real-time and thus be able to remove any language barriers.

At UNIGLOBE we are fully committed to innovation and we follow technological developments closely, but we never lose sight of the human aspect.

3) NEW DISTRIBUTION CAPABILITY SETS THE STANDARD

NDC, which saw the light of day in 2012, has shaken the foundations of traditional travel distribution. It was created by IATA (International Air Transport Agency) with the aim of facilitating new XML-based data transmissions. The technology will continue to evolve and become more sophisticated. Business travellers will have access to a very extensive range of services and the best deals in a fraction of a second. TMCs, airlines, hotels and transport companies are investing en masse in new technologies and contemporary applications.

With UBI (UNIGLOBE Booking Intelligence), we offer a brand-new state-of-the-art reservation tool for small and medium-sized, as well as global companies that want to manage their business trips in a cost-efficient and streamlined way.​​​​​​​

4) THE SHARING ECONOMY IS THE NEW NORMAL

Companies like Airbnb, Uber, and Lyft can no longer be left out of the corporate travel landscape. Now already 40% of new business travellers prefer accommodation in the shared economy sector. 81% prefer the ride-sharing sector to taxi services and 67% prefer a shared ride to a rental car. More and more companies will integrate these shared services into their travel policies. On the other hand, we see a significant catch up when it comes to the traditional hotel industry and car rental companies in the areas of price, experience and user-friendliness, whereby the gap between the new players is narrowing once again.

All our employees are professional. Based on their many years of experience, they assist you with customized advice.​​​​​​​