The last 2-3 years have been a recovery period for travel across the globe, as the demand has gradually increased both in the segments of business and leisure. According to the industry experts, business travel priorities are changing and there is a growing demand for value-based content, artificial intelligence, initiatives on sustainability and new pricing models. The advancement of technology is opening new avenues in creating a more engaging and personalized journey. Online booking tool, travel support on few clicks, easy access on competitive fares and customized offers have changed the business travel approach. Lufthansa City Center Travels & Rentals have researched through the upcoming trends and patterns of 2025 and shares a consolidated report that reveals the following.
Value Based Content:
The year 2025 Business Travel will depend a lot on travel content and its dynamics. Organizations will search for better travel content that derives value and a return on investment on each trip. There could be combination of rise in business trips or extension of a single trip that is designated to cover the necessary aspects of travel including, meetings, visits, special appointments etc.
And here lies a significant function of a travel management company (TMC) who will offer value-based air content, hotel content with enhanced expense management capabilities. In such cases Corporate will rely more on TMCs for insightful travel statistics and reports.
Travel Meets AI:
Travel tech leader Amadeus has recently revealed in their reports that travel management companies and business travellers will be inclined towards blending AI in their travel approach. With the advent of AI, it has become now easier to create immersive travel experiences for the travellers. According to the report, Airlines are already using AI to offer personalized entertainment options based on passenger’s viewing histories and interests.
Airlines like Delta Airlines and Turkish Airlines are offering free high-speed Wi-Fi to stay connected and access streaming devices. Virtual reality headsets and emotion recognition systems are getting integrated to enhance the passenger experiences.
Emerging Asia:
The largest continent of the world is repositioning itself on various aspects of travel to gain more footfalls from across the world. Initiatives have already been taken from many countries who are extending visa-free travel and simplifying entry guidelines. The opening of luxury resorts, five-star services, high end accommodations clubbed with premium experiences continue to attract both business and leisure travellers.
According to IATA Global Outlook for Air Transport Report – 2024, Asia Pacific will lead the air traffic growth and contribute to more than half of the global passengers' numbers in the next two decades. That’s fascinating from Asia after all!
New Cost Baselines:
According to CWT GBTA Global Business Travel Forecast, it would not be wise to consider 2019 pricing as baselines since the airline industry, hotels and ground transportation have moved way forward with hiked prices in order to recover from the difficult phase. However, price rises have stabilized and have only experienced single digit percentage increase through 2023 to 2024. Business travellers will now have to understand that the prices will never go back to the levels of 2019 and the elevated prices are new normal. It would be better to work out all the travel related expenses with an expert TMC for cost savings and better results.
India MiCE:
The Indian MiCE tourism market is expected to mark a CAGR of 6% during the period of 2025 to 2030 as per the reports shared by Mordor Intelligence. MiCE tourism is gradually gaining momentum in India as the focus is shifting from Europe to Asia Pacific region. In the last couple of years, the development in infrastructural facilities have been phenomenal and at par with global standards. Few of the metro cities have started hosting big ticket events which as a result India is becoming the preferred destination of MiCE, according to the report. At present, there are more than 1300-star category hotels that are excellent venues for MiCE with the 70+ convention centers each having the possibility of hosting the world-class events.
Sustainable Initiatives:
Sustainable travel has been one of the emerging issues in global travel and all the stakeholders of the industry are putting generous efforts to make an impact. IATA and all its members are already moving forward to their ambitious target to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Even Indian corporates are embracing green travel as an initiative to reduce carbon footprints.
As part of the initiative, the business travel is planned in a way that it includes carbon offsetting and encourages eco-friendly travel. The website of IATA clearly states that they will achieve net zero CO2 emissions with a combination of maximum elimination of emissions, offsetting and carbon capture technologies by means of 65% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), 13% New technology, 3% Infrastructure and operational efficiencies and 19% Offsets and carbon capture.
Conclusion:
The year 2025 is going to see more usages of artificial intelligence from various stakeholders to enhance travel experience of passengers. The prices in all the segments of travel have stabilized to some extent and is expected to stabilize more throughout 2025. Corporates are more likely to see the travel expenditure as investment and calculate ROI based on it.
Corporates will continue to look forward to experienced TMCs for value-based services they offer involving extracting best airfares, hotels & accommodations, documentation support, VIP services, 24/7 emergency support, reports & analytics. Overall, 2025 is poised to deliver better travel.
Comments