As companies continue to prioritize in-person collaboration, teambuilding, and client engagement, group business travel has made a strong comeback this year, though of course with some uncertainty due to current US travel restrictions (which was felt across the industry).
According to a GBTA survey, 63% of travel managers expected travel for the rest of 2025 to stay the same despite the US government actions. While business travel saw a slow-down right after the release of the measures, travel has since stabled.
With spending on the rise (and prices too), travel managers and those in charge of business travel are finding themselves at the center of a fast-evolving landscape—one filled with both exciting opportunities and some challenges.
The drivers behind increased group travel spending
Several factors are leading to an increase in group business travel:
Opportunities
With a surge in group business travel, travel managers, HR managers and admins have an opportunity to bring the importance of business travel to the forefront. A Deloitte study also pointed to a three percent increase in companies who are taking travel strategy to the C-suite or board level due to rising costs, sustainability strategies or uncertain business outlook. This points to the fact that as business group travel spend rises, so does the overall transparency and visibility within the company.
Strategic influence
Those who manage travel within a business will now play a more important role in helping to shape travel policies, weighing in on travel spend and help to actively contribute to sustainability goals.
Price negotiation
Bulk bookings and repeat group travel can help companies secure better rates, perks and negotiated rates from suppliers.
pro tip
If you already work with a travel management platform like GetGoing, negotiated rates are built-in already on your platform.
Tech efficiency
Platforms like GetGoing will help make it easier to manage group itineraries, approvals and reporting, while improving the overall traveler experience.
Sustainability-first approach
Those in charge of travel can make sustainable decisions with a greater impact thanks to working with group travel. This can be choosing eco-friendly hotels, carbon offset programs or encouraging train travel.
Challenges to watch out for
More travel comes with more complexity. Some challenges like cost control, logistics and policy compliances come to the forefront of concerns and challenges to be addressed.
Cost control
Balancing the importance of business travel especially for groups with respecting tight budgets is a constant tension within companies. While teams recognize the importance of business travel, it also comes at high costs.
Logistical complexity
It can be harder to coordinate multi-person, multi-leg trips for big groups. This is why it’s a good idea to work with a simplified online booking solution like GetGoing that can help make logistical complexity a non-issue. Easily control budgets, approval processes and booking from one all-in-one platform.
Policy compliance
Ensuring group business travel also aligns with corporate guidelines across departments can present some problems. How to handle this? Work with a travel management platform that has an automated travel policy.
Risk management
Health, safety and planning in case of emergency will be more important than ever, especially when it comes to groups.
Future outlook
As small and medium-sized businesses travel more and more to reach their goals, recognizing the importance of meeting clients face-to-face, it will be more and more important to find a business travel and expense management solution that can handle the needs of small and medium-sized businesses that travel as a group.
As we move into 2026, companies have an opportunity to prioritize group business travel and maintain it as a key pillar of their corporate travel strategy. With spending and prices on the rise, it’s important to find a way to drive connections and results by staying informed, agile and on top of the trends.
