Advantage Travel Partnership’s CEO Julia Lo Bue-Said has warned there is a “growing risk” that international travel patterns could be “reshaped” by the impact of US policies and other geopolitical factors.
During a speech at Advantage’s annual conference, this year held in Malta, Lo Bue-Said said the UK travel industry had “demonstrated exceptional resilience and adaptability” despite ongoing challenges, including global political uncertainty and operational disruptions.
“This year continues to be marked by seismic political and social shifts. Geopolitical changes, particularly evolving US policies, are influencing global markets and supply chains,” said Lo Bue-Said.
“While it's still too early to fully assess the long-term impact, there is a growing risk that political sentiment may begin to reshape international travel patterns.”
Lo Bue-Said added there was “a degree of caution specifically around the direct impact to sectors following the Trump Administration’s brutal tariff regime and unpredictability of policies”.
But she emphasised that the TMC network’s members “continue to thrive and are best placed to withstand these impacts, with SMEs having the ability to remain agile, continuing to prioritise duty of care, cost control and traveller experience emphasising meaningful in-person connections”.
Lo Bue-Said added that the UK remained a “key source market” for business travel but warned that border control changes, including the UK’s new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, could “impact the UK’s international competitiveness”.
Despite these issues, she stressed that business travel “remained essential, even under budget constraints”.
“Business travel has changed but it’s not stopped,” added Lo Bue-Said. “More travel management companies are increasing their portfolios. Corporates see the benefit of working with SMEs. There are opportunities and our sector is brilliant at finding them.”
Advantage is set to announce “record-breaking” financial results in the next few weeks, added Lo Bue-Said as the consortium has continued to expand in both business and leisure travel markets.
“Today as a global network, our members generate over £17 billion in global sales annually – with over £8 billion from our UK membership – 70 per cent of this largely representing business travel volume and over £2.5 billion on leisure,” she said.
This includes an increase of £550 million in total transaction value (TTV) covering both corporate and leisure travel during the past 12 months, which has been achieved by adding new members and growth from existing TMCs and agencies.
Andrea Caulfield-Smith, managing director of global business travel at Advantage, told BTN Europe: “Our corporate members are not seeing any impact to their business. Right now, things are stable but it’s too early to tell.
“Everything is moving all the time and we’ve just seen the entertainment industry added to the mix [with US tariffs]. It’s very much wait and see.”
Mark Cuschieri, president of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), highlighted the association’s recent sentiment surveys which showed a significant decline in optimism between last year and the first quarter of 2025.
“Nobody likes uncertainty – from the business travel perspective, that can be because of the economic climate and everything going on in the US,” he added. “Optimism has declined – certainly it’s anticipated that volume and spend will go down.”
Cuschieri said that overall business travel budgets have had to increase because of a rise of 11-15 per cent in the average cost of travel in the past year.
Advantage also revealed a new brand identity and logo at its conference on Wednesday (14 May).
“This refreshed identity isn't merely cosmetic,” said Lo Bue-Said. “It's a visual promise of our commitment to evolution, to staying ahead of industry shifts and to empowering every stakeholder of our community to thrive in this constantly changing landscape.”