‘Bleisure’ anticipated to reach US$731.4 billion by 2032, with Gen Z representing 27% of the global workforce soon
Industry analysts anticipate that business travel spending will fully rebound by the end of 2024, returning to levels seen before the pandemic in 2019. Adding to those analyses, Amadeus released their latest Business Travel Trends 2024 report to magnify a number of corporate travel practices that are undergoing significant changes.
The report by Globetrender, in partnership with Cytric Easy by Amadeus, outlines seven key trends that will influence business travel over the next year. The report also highlights the role of Generative AI in reshaping business travel, particularly through the introduction of “AI PAs” — intelligent personal assistants aimed at streamlining complex bookings and itinerary planning for corporate travellers.
- AI Personal Assistants (PAs): Streamlining self-booked trips through AI technology.
- Executive Field Trips: Increased interest in strategic getaways and nature-based team retreats.
- Objective Stacking: Maximising the value of business travel through the pursuit of multiple goals.
- Blended Itineraries: Prioritising employee experience by moving away from strict travel policies.
- Net-zero Heroes: Corporations adopting smarter strategies to achieve carbon reduction targets by 2050.
- Digitised Expenses: Simplifying expense management processes, potentially eliminating traditional expense reports.
- Power Networking: Growing demand for global events as people seek meaningful connections.
You can download the full report here.
To get additional insights on some of the report’s key findings, we got in touch with Ingrid Picard, Head of Commercial Development Resellers and Corporations APAC, Amadeus, who expanded on evolving business travel trends and delved into the growing role of new tech and AI in this space.
Q: Are there trends in the report that were unheard of before this point and exclusive to 2024?
All of these trends are emerging in 2024, but one that really stands out is how Generative AI (Gen AI) personal assistants will impact business travellers.
In the tech space, we’ve been talking about artificial intelligence for a while, but this is the year that Gen AI – artificial intelligence that generates new content and ideas based on user questions – really became a reality for the average business traveller.
For corporate travellers, Gen AI has catalysed the emergence of multi-lingual, intelligent, 24/7, digital personal assistants that can help with everything from processing complex travel bookings using natural language, to advising on itinerary options.
Business travellers will be able to converse with a Gen AI-powered chatbot like they do via mail, or chat. They will get trip recommendations aligned with policy, they will be prompted on when to travel or the best choices to get there. The impact will be profound and will completely change the lives of our business travellers and corporate stakeholders.
Q: Do you foresee Executive Field Trips going from a niche segment to something more widespread in the future?
We absolutely believe that Executive Trips will continue to grow. In 2024, Canada-based Moniker Partners, a creative corporate retreat planner, said that 2023 was their busiest year yet.
Executive field trips are also exploding in popularity. These are often longer nature-based retreats that allow executive leaders to relax and strategise in a completely new environment. This trend is becoming increasingly important at a time when many companies have many global employees working either remotely or hybrid, making face-to-face connections increasingly important. And there’s something about heading out into nature that allows people to bond and foster camaraderie in a way that an office environment simply cannot compete with.
In this global and increasingly digital world, companies need to find creative and inspiring ways to bring their executives together. In a competitive corporate environment, travel is also a great way to recruit and retain senior executives. Incentive’s Travel 1Q Survey found that 34% of business leaders recognise travel as a key way to recruit employees and retain them.
Q: How much of these trends are directly influenced by Gen Z and the events of the last 3 years?
There is no doubt that the pandemic accelerated the move to employees working remotely. After two years spent working from home, it’s been increasingly hard for companies to argue that it can’t be done. And now, employees are used to the lifestyle. According to Forbes, a staggering 98% of workers expressed the desire to work remotely at least part of the time, a figure which reflects the workforce’s growing affinity towards the flexibility, autonomy and work-life balance that remote work offers. But with remote work comes the need for more corporate retreats, as well as more strategic business travel that incorporates things like objective stacking, power networking and blended itineraries to make every dollar count.
On the topic of sustainability, it’s clear that Gen Z-ers and Millennials are both exerting pressure on companies and governments to engage in more sustainable practices. For these generations, sustainability isn’t just a buzz word, it’s a very real issue that will have enormous impacts on their future. According to the Pew Research Center Gen Z-ers and Millennials are talking more about the need for action on climate change; among social media users, they are seeing more climate change content online; and they are doing more to get involved with the issue through activities such as volunteering and attending rallies and protests.
Both of these generations vote with their wallets so companies that want to succeed will need to show that they are taking real action to reduce their carbon footprint.
Q: With many companies still debating the validity of remote work setups and a hybrid workforce, what’s the likelihood of bleisure travel, blended travel, and the “Lazy Girl” workforce truly taking off this year?
Some companies may still want to debate the validity of remote work setups and a hybrid workforce, but those who want to attract and retain talent—especially younger generations—will be quick to embrace this way of working because it’s here to stay.
While previous generations were willing to sacrifice their health and mental wellbeing to get ahead, Generation Z seeks “whole life” success (healthy bodies, good relationships and fulfilling work). What’s more, by 2025 they will represent 27% of the global workforce, meaning employers need to adapt to shifting demands, especially when it comes to business travel.
This trend isn’t going away anytime soon. Allied Market Research states that the global bleisure travel industry is anticipated to grow to US$731.4 billion by 2032, registering a compound annual growth rate of 8.9 per cent. This isn’t just a trend, it’s the beginning of a new way of working that Gen Z will enshrine in corporate life for the decades to come.
Q: Objective Stacking seems to be a logical way to implement sustainable travel. What makes this trend possible now compared to a few years ago?
Technology is a critical enabler in this shift towards Objective Stacking, and the boom of generative AI in 2024 is just accelerating the speed and efficiency with which things can be done.
Advanced analytics tools help in identifying opportunities to combine different travel objectives, while mobile apps and online platforms simplify itinerary management, booking, and suggest opportunities to stay connected with colleagues.
Cytric Easy by Amadeus is geared towards facilitating multi-objective trips, helping to plan journeys that are efficient in terms of cost, time, and environmental impact. It provides tools and insights that enable businesses to track and manage their travel expenditure and carbon emissions, supporting informed decision making. Cytric Easy in Microsoft Teams also makes it easy to coordinate itineraries via “Match My Trip”, share rides with colleagues and identify “close collaborators”.
Q: What are some gaps that financial digitisation and automation are still unable to solve, forcing companies to still adhere to conventional expenses reports?
Since 2020, automation has generally improved. Forrester Study on Digital Transformation said that 62% of T&E aspects were fully or mostly automated compared to 53% in 2020. But the burden of manual tasks remains.
Fifteen percent of IT and finance decision makers stated that checking the violation of expense policies — both domestic and international VAT reclaims, as well as the auditing of expense reports — was still mostly or fully manual processes.
One big challenge that companies face is that many still force employees to pay for expenses upfront, and then reimburse them later. This causes issues for both the employer and employee. Travellers are left out of pocket, time is wasted processing expense claims, and companies are left unable to control employee spend. In addition, auditing expense reports can be a lengthy and very manual process, especially when employees need to submit paper receipts or when spreadsheet-based solutions are used.
We must move away from this unmanaged, after-the-fact process and instead embrace end-to-end digital payment and expense, which boosts efficiency, visibility and control over travel spend.
Q: Based on the report, what’s new, tech-wise, that could potentially solve these gaps?
Advances in digital payments technology make end-to-end spend management in travel possible for the first time and remove the need for outdated manual auditing and complicated travel and expense procedures.
The ability to place virtual payment cards within corporate self-booking tools and now also within the secure enclave on the traveller’s mobile phone is at the heart of this change. Now companies can provide a traveller with a virtual card for a pre-determined amount on their smartphone which can be used to pay for on-trip expenses like taxis or meals. Company travel policies can be programmed into these digital cards so they can only be used with certain merchant categories or for a certain amount. Additional real-time policy checks at the time of payment further reinforce the value of the system. This innovation means traditional expense reports are no longer necessary because payments are made from the company’s own bank – greatly simplifying expense management for travellers, their managers and finance teams.
Corporate finance teams see efficiencies in three key areas : accounting, audit and reimbursement; budget control and forecasting; as well as international VAT reclaiming.
With all spend made using virtual cards and running through the company’s own bank, the process of reconciling payments to bookings is automated. There’s no longer a need to audit employee expense reports nor to reimburse the employees. In addition, because travellers are provided with a virtual card for a pre-agreed amount, based on the nature of the trip, expenses are controlled in advance. Finance teams can accurately understand travel spend based on virtual card budgets already assigned, rather than trying to estimate the cost of travel at the end of the month. Finally, with options to enrich payments data with specific line items from hotel and other receipts, finance teams no longer need to chase down specific information from travellers and providers to reclaim international VAT.
As a result, virtual cards are a game changer when it comes to digitising and automating corporate travel. By using virtual cards, businesses can supply travellers with a pre-approved expense budget for each trip, so that there is greater transparency, and companies are better able to control employee spend to ensure that business trips do not incur unexpected costs.
