2025…THE YEAR THAT RISK RETURNED TO THE CORPORATE AGENDA IN THE NORDICES
THE NORDICS' LEADING TMCs 2026
Several important trends emerged across the Nordic business travel sector in 2025.
22 June 2026
Risk management became a core part of travel management. Geopolitical instability, cyber risk, extreme weather, strikes and airspace disruption made duty of care more important than ever.
“Some travel managers have been instructed to decrease travel expenses due to financial uncertainty, but these will be companies directly affected by the heavy fluctuations in the markets. Others continue do business as usual, while keeping an eye on what’s going on,” says Areka Consulting’s Lotten Fowler.
The role of the travel manager became more strategic, believes Fredrik Hermelin, general manager of the Swedish Business Travel Association and part of the BTN Europe leading TMCs advisory board.
“Travel managers were expected to understand cost, sustainability, traveller wellbeing, procurement, technology, data, risk and business value,” he said.
“Rail continued to grow as a strategic topic, especially for domestic and regional travel. But the Nordic challenge remains fragmentation,” said Hermelin. “Booking, ticketing, disruption handling, cross-border rail, refunds and integration into corporate tools are still not good enough.”
TRAVELLER EXPERIENCE ASCENDS
Traveller experience returned as a serious topic for Nordic travel management.
“Companies realised that badly managed travel affects productivity, safety, employee satisfaction and retention,” he said.
Meetings and events also became more connected to travel strategy. “Corporates increasingly looked at why people meet, how often they meet, where they meet, and how meetings can deliver measurable value,” said Hermelin.
“Finally, the unmanaged travel question became more urgent. In a stable world, unmanaged travel may look flexible. In an unstable world, it becomes a risk. Nordic organisations need better visibility, better data and stronger travel governance.”
NORDICS' LEADING TMCS 2026 (1-15)
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GEOPOLITICS
The impact of world events, including Donald Trump’s second term and the Gaza War, was significant, but did not cause Nordic business travel to collapse – it just created uncertainty. As a result, geopolitical risk moved from being mainly a security department issue to becoming a travel programme issue.
“From a Nordic perspective, 2025 showed that business travel is no longer only about mobility. It is also about resilience, preparedness and strategic decision-making,” said Hermelin.
Donald Trump’s second term created concern around tariffs, border policy, entry restrictions, detainment risk and broader trade friction.
Hemelin said, “For Nordic companies, many of which are export-driven and highly international, this made travel to the US more carefully considered. It did not stop business travel, but it forced companies to ask sharper questions: Is this trip business-critical? Is the traveller properly prepared? Do we understand the risk? Do we have the right duty-of-care procedures in place?”
The Gaza War and the wider instability in the Middle East had a similar effect.
“Direct travel to Israel and parts of the region was heavily affected, but the wider Nordic impact was mainly about risk awareness, rerouting, insurance, traveller tracking, crisis communication and board-level attention to employee safety,” he said.
THE IMPACT ON BUSINESS TRAVEL
Higher costs clearly affected behaviour, but they did not remove the need for business travel. The Nordic response was not simply to cut travel. It was to make travel more intentional.
“We have seen international business travel increase to most markets, with the clear exception of the US,” said Hermelin. “Nordic companies became more selective. Internal one-day trips, low-value meetings and poorly planned travel came under greater scrutiny. At the same time, strategically important travel continued. This included client meetings, sales, project delivery, leadership meetings, events, supplier relations and international partnerships.”
In many cases, companies accepted higher costs because they understood that the cost of not meeting customers, partners and teams can be even higher. The key shift was from volume to value. Travel managers were increasingly expected to show why a trip matters, not only manage the booking process.
“The strongest Nordic programmes focused on better planning, earlier booking, combining several meetings into one trip, using rail where practical, improving policy compliance and connecting travel data to business outcomes,” said Hermelin.
AI AND BUSINESS TRAVEL
AI was one of the most talked-about themes in 2025. However, its practical effect on corporates has so far been uneven.
“Many suppliers announced AI initiatives, but most Nordic corporates were not yet seeing a fully transformed travel programme,” said Hermelin. “The real effect was more operational than revolutionary. AI started to influence expense handling, traveller communication, policy compliance, disruption management, reporting, data analysis and customer service. But corporates remained cautious, especially in the Nordics, where data privacy, transparency, traveller trust and system integration matter a great deal.”
The Nordic buyer question was not simply: “Do you have AI?” The better question was: “What problem does your AI solve, how is data protected, how does it improve compliance or traveller experience, and can you prove the value?”
At the Nordic Business Travel Summit, The Big Shift - Future Lab session summed it up like this: “By 2030, technology and AI will not only make travel faster. They will reshape the entire workflow - from decision-making and booking to disruption management, safety support, expense handling and compliance. The real transformation is about moving from fragmented tools to a connected intelligence layer around the traveller.”
SUSTINABILITY
Sustainability suffered a body blow in 2025 but it merely strengthened the resolve of some.
“In the Nordics, sustainability is part of the basic DNA of corporate travel,” said Hermelin. “Sustainability may be under political pressure globally, particularly in parts of the US, but in the Nordics, it remains central to corporate travel management.”
He said, “The reason is simple. Sustainability in the Nordics is not only a branding issue. It is connected to regulation, procurement, reporting, public sector expectations, employee values and corporate governance. CSRD and Scope 3 reporting mean that business travel emissions are increasingly part of the formal reporting structure. Nordic companies may debate how to balance sustainability with commercial needs, but they are not abandoning the agenda.”
What changed in 2025 was the tone, says Hermelin.
“Sustainability became less about slogans and more about data, accountability and practical choices. Rail, smarter meeting planning, emissions reporting, supplier data quality, hotel standards and SAF discussions all remained relevant,” he said. “The mature Nordic position is not ‘stop travelling’. It is ‘travel smarter, travel with purpose and measure what we do.’”
The overall conclusion is clear: 2025 was not the year Nordic business travel slowed down. It was the year it became more strategic, more visible to leadership and more central to the future of managed travel.