New research from Expedia Group, detailed in the report The future of business travel: is market optimism outpacing capability, reveals that travel management companies (TMCs) are highly optimistic about the next three years of business travel – yet many lack confidence in their ability to meet the rising expectations of today’s business travellers.
Respondents reported strong optimism (95%) about the next three years of business travel, citing increasing demand and the accelerating return of corporate travel programs.
At the same time, the findings show a clear expectation–execution gap. Although traveller expectations have increased across blended trip planning (85%), booking simplicity (84%), loyalty rewards (83%) personification (81%) and mobile booking (76%), only 30-40% of TMC leaders feel very confident they can meet these needs today. Confidence is particularly strained among larger TMCs (250+ employees), where operational complexity is highest. This expectation gap mirrors insights from Expedia Group’s latest perspective on business traveller behaviour, which shows travellers increasingly prioritising efficiency, personalisation and flexibility, including more intuitive booking flows, clearer loyalty value and the ability to seamlessly combine business and leisure needs. Together, these trends underscore mounting pressure on TMCs to modernise the end‑to‑end experience and keep pace with shifting traveller behaviour.
AI investment is widespread: all respondents report adopting AI, and nearly all are investing in automation and real‑time data analytics (97%). However, fewer than half believe their budgets for emerging technologies are sufficient, indicating that ambition is outpacing foundational readiness.
“Business travel is entering a phase of immense opportunity – and equally immense pressure. Leaders know exactly what travellers want, but many lack confidence that their current systems can deliver”, says Carolina Cabero, SVP Expedia Group B2B. “Closing that gap is now the challenge. With integrated platforms enhanced by AI and stronger tech investments – such as Expedia Group B2B’s extended Rapid API offering – TMCs can meet rising expectations with confidence, adapt faster and lead the next era of business travel with certainty”.
