There has been much discussion around the future of business travel over the past few years – with initial concern volumes would never return to pre-COVID-19 levels giving way to more nuanced discussions around what shape the market would take as it recovers.

As the sector returns to its previous heights, Business Travel Agencies (BTAs) have demonstrated a driving ambition to invest to meet the evolving traveler and market needs. Many are looking to spend significantly more in 2024, adding technology and capabilities to build further end-to-end experiences for passengers, drive more value and highlight sustainability criteria.

It continues to be key for Business Travel Agencies to have access to the relevant content to differentiate by offering business travelers personalized yet simpler trips. Also driving revenue through the ability to manage ‘blended travel’ trips, book additional products such as meetings, transfers, cars and rail is a high priority to fully be able to deliver on the end-to-end experience. In addition, realizing the benefits of NDC (New Distribution Capability) technology continues to be top of mind for many – and this is an area where progress is accelerating.

Business Travel Agencies have also been looking for efficiency gains to help lower costs and impact on the bottom line. This can mean the adoption of automation tools to systemize routine tasks, self-service solutions for travelers or the wider adoption of API aggregation, all of which can help cut demand for time consuming manual processes. There is a growing understanding that deployment of these technologies will be necessary to remain relevant in a fast-moving market.

There is also an expectation from our customers that technologies such as Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI), machine learning, cloud computing and digital payments soon will bring tangible benefits to the day-to-day operations of Business Travel Agencies.

With Amadeus being at the center of the travel ecosystem, we are well-positioned to help travel sellers achieve their goals. We continue to invest in our portfolio of solutions for Business Travel Agencies, from providing relevant content to enabling end-to-end smart retailing capabilities to all our customers no matter the size or location – our travel platform delivers on our promise: we make travel work better.

Exciting times are ahead for the industry with technology as a value-driver for better business travel. I hope you enjoy reading this report – and if you have any questions, we at Amadeus look forward to hearing from you.