Business travel industry confidence has reached its highest level of 2026, recovering from the uncertainty that weighed down expectations earlier this year amid the conflict in the Middle East and rising jet fuel prices, according to a Global Business Travel Association poll of 604 industry professionals.
In the survey, conducted from 27 August to 9 September, 63 per cent of respondents – comprising buyers and suppliers – said they were optimistic about the next 12 months, a 22-point rebound from GBTA's April poll and the strongest 12-month outlook since October 2024.
Some 30 per cent of respondents had a neutral outlook, while 7 per cent were pessimistic, down from 24 per cent in April.
However, not all global regions shared an equally rosy outlook. In Europe, only 55 per cent of respondents were optimistic, while 11 per cent were pessimistic. It's a significant improvement from April, when only 21 per cent were optimistic and 38 per cent were pessimistic, though Europe's optimism still trails that of North America (61 per cent), Asia Pacific (71 per cent) and Latin America (76 per cent).
Of the approximately 300 buyers surveyed, 45 per cent anticipated the number of business trips at their organisations to be higher in 2026 than in 2025, up from 30 per cent in April. Nearly 40 per cent of buyers said they expect their 2026 business travel volume to hold steady compared with 2025, and 16 per cent anticipate fewer business trips this year.
More than half (56 per cent) of buyers expect travel spend to increase in 2026 compared with last year – up from 43 per cent in April – while 28 per cent expect spending to stay the same and 14 per cent expect it to decrease.
Nearly one-third of buyers estimated the number of meetings requiring business travel at their organisations will increase in 2026, while 49 per cent expected no change and 14 per cent expected a decrease.
Supplier and travel management company expectations also improved since April, with 48 per cent of those respondents anticipating a year-on-year increase in business travel-related revenue, up from 35 per cent earlier this year. Only 14 per cent of suppliers expected lower revenue in 2026.
Rising travel costs were the most influential factor in travel planning for buyers, cited by 69 per cent of buyer respondents, followed by geopolitical uncertainty at 45 per cent.
Among suppliers, geopolitical uncertainty ranked as the top business impact, cited by 60 per cent, followed by rising operating costs at 44 per cent and customer pricing pressure at 42 per cent.