An increasing number of corporates are using business travel as an employee benefit to support their talent attraction and retention strategies, according to a Business Travel Show Europe survey.
The poll, which was completed by 192 respondents (mostly based in the UK and mainland Europe), found that 20.2 per cent of organisations were using business travel as a “carrot” to encourage potential recruits. This was a rise from 18.6 per cent in the corresponding survey last year.
Just under 6 per cent of respondents said that taking “bleisure” trips, which combine work and leisure travel, formed part of their programme of employee benefits, while 1.7 per cent allow workcations where staff can work remotely from a holiday destination instead of the office or their home.
The survey found that just over half of respondents (52 per cent) did not currently use business travel to encourage people to join their companies — although this was down from a figure of 57 per cent in 2025.
Louis Magliaro, executive vice president at The BTN Group, which organises Business Travel Show Europe, said: “We’re seeing a real shift in how organisations think about business travel. It’s no longer viewed purely as a cost centre, but becoming a meaningful part of the employee value proposition.
“For younger talent especially, the opportunity to travel, blend work with leisure and experience new cultures is a powerful differentiator.
“This data shows HR teams are recognising that, and Business Travel Show Europe will be the place to find shortcuts to designing a travel policy that can support attraction, retention and employee experience.”
Business Travel Show Europe takes place on 24-25 June at Excel London, with more than 700 corporate travel buyers set to attend the event.