Leading travel consortium, The Advantage Travel Partnership, in partnership with travel data and reporting specialists, Travelogix, has published the 7th edition of its Global Business Travel Review.

The latest review, the second of 2024, is based on the analysis of 29.7m records from 01 January 2019 to 30 June 2024 with an aggregated value of £13.9bn in transaction value, to support insights from travel professionals into traveller and booker behaviour and confidence.

The Global Business Travel Review reports that in the first six months of the year, new transactions were 17.3 percent higher than in the same period in 2023 outperforming the most ambitious forecast of a 15.5 percent increase year-on-year. However, the review also shows that the average transaction value has dropped month-on-month for the first time since the pandemic. The average transaction value started at £466.05 in January and reduced to £364.21 in June which may be reflective of a reduced traveller or consumer confidence since the beginning of the year and perhaps fewer long-haul business trips taking place.

These key findings directly correlate to another key finding in the report that bookings in business and first-class travel have decreased, meaning economy-class travel has increased from 71.3 percent in 2023 to 78.9 percent in H1 2024. The report outlines that volumes are rising but the value of travel has decreased pointing to a direct correlation to cabin class metrics; a surge or increase in economy class and a slowing of first and business class travel. It is possible that the buyer community is pulling back slightly on policies that state that a premium or business class option is permitted if business travellers fly over a certain amount of hours. It may also be that the discussions around sustainability are beginning to impact decisions and that people are becoming more educated in their movements and booking smarter.

The Review also includes commentary on topical travel industry issues and predictions for the future from industry leaders and guest contributors. This issue looks at sustainability across the entire business travel ecosystem exploring sustainability solutions and practices, whether progress is being made and what the future might look like.  Within this Review, Advantage looks at the challenges of sustainability pledges from the perspective of three members and follows up with a seven-step sustainability strategy that will assist businesses become climate-compliant.

In addition to looking at sustainability and strategies, this report offers sector insights for rail, forecasts, and visions from Advantage’s international community, a Q&A with IATA looking at how business travel is fairing globally, and an overall outlook and forecast for the year ahead.

Andrea Caulfield-Smith, Managing Director Global Business Travel of The Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “This is the first Global Business Travel Review that I have been involved in and I think our work with Travelogix has produced some really interesting insights that should spark great discussions across our industry.”

“The key findings in our report do mirror what we have been hearing anecdotally over the last six months and that is that travel budgets are being squeezed with unnecessary travel being removed or at least reduced. The airspace limitations due to global conflicts have had a real impact on flight time which in-tern result in fuel increases amongst other expenditures which could be having an impact on the destinations customers are willing to fly to for a higher cost.”

“In terms of the key theme for this report, sustainability is taking centre stage in 2024. There is a real mix of understanding on how sustainable actions can complement a travel policy. While CO emissions are important, companies need to consider the E, S and G to make a difference. At Advantage our world-renowned One Stop Business Hub for our members, delivers market-leading capabilities and unparalleled support to our partners and can help them on this journey.”

“I want to thank our supplier partners for their valuable contributions to this Review – having input from across the business travel industry makes us uniquely placed to be able to offer such an extensive and industry-leading product range to our members.”

Chris Lewis, Founder and CEO at Travelogix, said:

“I am incredibly proud to publish our seventh Global Business Travel Review in partnership with our friends at The Advantage Travel Partnership. Through these reviews, we aim to fulfil our joint commitment with Advantage to provide the most informed perspectives on the hottest topics in the travel industry.

“Our objective is to offer content and insights from leading industry figures, and I believe this latest review accomplishes just that. 

“I would like to thank our global contributors for their valued insights and commentary. Additionally, I want to highlight the trends we at Travelogix have observed in the first half of 2024, particularly the standout changes in booking and traveller behaviour. We have seen a slight but notable downturn in premium class travel, and trip durations have decreased for the first time in several years.

“My heartfelt thanks go to the team at The Advantage Travel Partnership and The Advantage Global Network for their continued commitment to this series. We look forward to working closely with the team at Advantage as we start planning for our eighth edition later in the year.”

The key findings of the July Review revealed:

• For H1 2024, new transactions were 17.3% higher than in the same period in 2023. These numbers outperformed our most ambitious forecast of a 15.5% increase year-on-year.
• The average transaction value dropped month-on-month for the first time since 2020. It fell 2.7% from £428.82 in H1 2023 to £417.54 in H1 2024.
• In February’s review, earlier this year, we witnessed an average advanced booking of 28.6 days in 2023. We are now sitting at an average of 34.01 days for H1 2024, showing a growth of 22% on H1 2023.
• Also, in February’s report, we witnessed an average trip duration of 6.95 days in 2023. We are now sitting at an average of 5.76 days for H1 2024. This equates to a 17.39% reduction on H1 2023.
• Bookings in business and first-class travel have decreased, meaning economy class travel has increased from 71.3% in 2023 to 78.9% in H1 2024.

The Review contains contributions from: