Business travel to boom in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to Flight Centre survey – CMW

A landmark State of the Market Survey from Australia-based Flight Centre Travel Group reports blue skies ahead for the business travel sector. 40% of businesses plan to increase their travel in FY25 (July to June), and 42% of customers expect to raise their travel budgets compared to last year. 

Conducted using the Qualtrics platform, the survey gathered over 500 responses from flagship brands FCM Travel and Corporate Traveller, offering a comprehensive overview of global business travel intentions.

Among the respondents, 10% plan to increase travel by more than 20%, while 30% expect an increase of up to 20%. A further 35% anticipate their travel volume to remain the same, with only 10% foreseeing a decrease.

In terms of spending, 6% of respondents intend to increase their travel expenditure by more than 20%, and 36% plan a rise of up to 20%. Meanwhile, 31% expect their spending to stay consistent with last year, and 11% foresee a reduction.

Steve Norris, EMEA managing director of Flight Centre Travel Group, commented:

“EMEA is leading the way in terms of business travel growth, with 46% of businesses in the region planning to increase their travel over the next year. Notably, 15% of these businesses expect to boost their number of trips by more than 20%.

“Even more promising, over 50% of our EMEA customers across FCM Travel and Corporate Traveller plan to increase their travel budgets, with 9% projecting a spend increase of more than 20%.”

Norris added that Flight Centre’s recent record full-year results highlight the strength of its corporate brands, FCM Travel and Corporate Traveller. 

The State of the Market Survey was conducted online from 3 June to 11 July 2024, targeting decision-makers, travel managers, and authorised travel bookers across all regions served by Corporate Traveller and FCM Travel. A random sample of 562 responses was collected.