American Express: Survey Shows ‘Validation’ of Business Travel Value

Senior enterprise leaders had been almost unanimous with expectations for enterprise journey ranges to both stay the identical or develop over the subsequent yr, in keeping with American Express’ current Amex Trendex enterprise journey survey, which surveyed 502 enterprise journey U.S. firm enterprise journey resolution makers.

The survey—which was performed from May 15 by way of May 23 and included responses from 1,005 U.S. enterprise vacationers alongside the choice makers—confirmed 95 p.c of decision-maker respondents anticipated to keep up or improve enterprise journey over the next 12 months. Even amid financial uncertainty, 92 p.c of resolution makers and 88 p.c of vacationers stated touring for in-person conferences is worth it.

“In an environment that has been evolving—and obviously spend control and visibility continues to be a priority for corporate buyers—that validation is important,” American Express EVP and normal supervisor for world and U.S. massive enterprises Fernando Iraola advised BTN. “It’s certainly encouraging and reaffirms the fact that the value of corporate travel is here to stay, and it’s a validation that in-person is back.”

Customer relations and consumer acquisition is “core and central” to enterprise journey resilience, Iraola stated. The high causes given by respondents within the survey for sustaining or growing enterprise journey had been getting the identical or extra time with shoppers, cited by 64 p.c of respondents, or rising or successful new enterprise, cited by 59 p.c.

Companies are looking for to quantify the worth of enterprise journey, with 66 p.c indicating they tracked gross sales stemming from enterprise journey to measure return on funding. Sixty p.c stated they did the identical with consumer suggestions.

Iraola added that return-to-office insurance policies are driving enterprise journey development, however “creating culture” stays a driver as effectively. “As you’re bringing more people onto the workforce, and particularly younger generations, you really want to have that culture creation, and in-person drives that perspective,” he stated.

The survey indicated 84 p.c of enterprise vacationers view enterprise journey as a perk, and 80 p.c of corporations use enterprise journey to draw and retain expertise. Younger vacationers had been extra prone to see enterprise journey as a perk, with 88 p.c of Gen-Z and Millennial respondents sharing that opinion in contrast with 78 p.c of Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers.

The Trendex report additionally recognized “trending” enterprise journey locations each within the U.S. and around the globe, based mostly on development of buyer airline transactions over a 12-month interval between 2023 and 2024. U.S. cities seeing an enormous improve in enterprise journey embrace Richmond, Va.; Columbus, Ohio; Charleston, S.C.; Boise, Idaho; and New Orleans. Outside of the U.S., cities attracting a rising variety of enterprise vacationers embrace Kumamoto, Japan; Cork, Ireland; and Malmö, Sweden.