2025 travel predictions

As we enter 2025, the travel industry stands at a pivotal moment of transformation. Modern technology, generational shifts, and evolving corporate priorities are reshaping how we think about business travel and meetings. 

From artificial intelligence to sustainability requirements, this year promises to bring significant changes to how travel sellers serve their customers, organizations manage their travel programs, and travelers experience their journeys.

To help you navigate 2025, we’ve gathered insights from industry leaders hailing from travel providers, technology providers, and travel management companies.

Christine Sikes, EVP of Customer Experience, Direct Travel

“By 2025, Gen Z will represent 27% of the global workforce, driving a shift in business travel preferences. A recent Direct Travel survey found that while most travelers still prefer a mix of self-service and agent support, Gen Z’s comfort with technology and desire for autonomy will accelerate the adoption of AI-supported self-service tools. 

“While travelers will seek mobile solutions that allow real-time adjustments to itineraries, traditional agents will remain an important part of this hybrid model. The year ahead will balance self-service convenience with human assistance, giving travelers flexibility to choose their preferred level of support.”

Anthony Rader, Director, Airline Retailing, American Airlines

“The availability of more consumer-friendly solutions for airline retailing, such as Spotnana, has paved the way for airlines to create greater value for travel managers and travelers in 2025. For example, Spotnana’s platform seamlessly supported American’s continuous pricing solution when introduced. Continued modernization will overcome the historical technical barriers between airline websites and corporate booking to meet customers’ self-servicing needs where they are while ensuring transparency for all parties involved.”

Amy Padgett,  SVP of Travel Ecosystem, Center

“The foundation of a seamless managed travel experience is real-time payment data. It’s about giving visibility to both travel managers and TMCs. Real-time access to data will shape travel policies like never before, enabling solution providers to forecast trends, identify areas of cost savings, and adapt to evolving consumer preferences. This will also provide immense value to duty-of-care programs and sustainability trackers.”

Dennis Vilovic, Founder and CEO, TROOP

“Budgets and the frequency of in-person meetings, particularly smaller internal gatherings, are expected to rise in 2025. Beyond achieving work-related goals, internal meetings will increasingly prioritize fostering in-person connections and team bonding. Meeting planners are moving beyond conventional cities and hotels, favoring unique destinations and innovative venues to craft tailored, high-impact events. This trend reflects a growing demand for distinctive experiences that leave a lasting impression on attendees.”

Michael Gulmann, Co-Founder and CEO, Otto

“2025 will be the year we see the first true conversational AI travel agent—a breakthrough that will redefine travel. It’ll mark the shift to smart, multi-agent AI systems seamlessly managing bookings and customer service, with humans stepping in only when needed, and less than 5% of cases requiring escalation.”

Mark Corbett, Founder, Thrust Carbon

“From 2025, 50,000 global enterprises must report their Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions to the EU—a seismic shift in corporate accountability. The clock is ticking for organizations to align their operations with rigorous internal mandates and external audits. 

“Assurable, high-integrity data across travel, expenses, and meetings is no longer optional; it’s a business imperative. Travel managers face mounting pressure to deliver precise, actionable insights—or risk the CFO’s scrutiny over missing or inaccurate data. 

“This is the year the conversation shifts: once verified baselines are established, the focus sharpens to, ‘What’s your plan to cut CO2e by 50% by 2030? To hit net-zero by 2050? What resources are required to achieve this?’ These questions are no longer theoretical—they are here, and they demand answers.”

Vineet Taneja, VP and General Manager, Brex

“AI will enter the mainstream in many workflows, including travel. From customer support to booking help, the opportunities to reduce cost for customers and increase efficiencies exist across the sphere; the trick will be how to do this in a safe manner, as data privacy is paramount.”

Geert de Boo, General Manager and VP of Global Business Travel, JTB Business Travel 

“I assume 2025 finally is the year that we move beyond talking so much about NDC and where it becomes normal that the majority of bookings are NDC ones. I believe we will see consolidation of aggregators with a smaller number of GDSs (that will ironically also increasingly aggregate non-GDS content) and aggregating platforms that can handle airline (and hotel) direct and GDS NDC, such as Spotnana, remain. 

“Multi-source content aggregation will be key for successful travel program management. Technology will facilitate this more seamlessly on a global level for lesser-friction traveler experiences, although 2025 may still see many bumps in that road to fully overcome all challenges.“

Mark Walton, CEO, Solutions Travel

“The paradigm shift away from legacy systems will change the way corporates manage their travel programs. You will see more companies, including the enterprise segment, evaluate opportunities which will allow for improved integration of travel components and provide consistency for global programs. 

“Companies will further consolidate TMC usage in favor of a single global TMC and online booking tool that works for all travelers in all countries. This will lead to significant improvement with reporting, allowing for real time data from all country points of sale.  

“Traveler behaviors will improve as they trust modern online booking tools to deliver content and functionality more similarly to what they experience on the consumer front. This will increase online adoption rates to well over 90% globally, improving efficiency and reducing company travel expenditures.”

Glenn Hollister, Vice President, Sales Strategy & Effectiveness, United Airlines

“2025 will be the year we see NDC bookings become more mainstream in managed travel. Currently we have a small number of TMCs booking most of their customers on NDC, while a much larger number of TMCs are booking just a few. I expect 2025 will be the year we see a meaningful shift as buyers and travelers seek access to the improved booking experience, pricing, and servicing experience NDC provides. For NDC bookings, we anticipate that both the high and low-water marks will be significantly higher than ever before.”

Shilpi Narang, VP of Customer Experience, Spotnana

“The desire for seamless online self-service will continue to grow in 2025 for both new bookings and subsequent changes. Business travelers increasingly want the same ease, convenience, AI-driven recommendations, and choice that leisure travelers experience. As companies concentrate on reducing costs and improving efficiency, it will be essential to maintain competitive pricing for travel inventory and adherence to corporate policies, but with the flexibility for the traveler to choose to pay for personal upgrades and other amenities also available via self-serve.”

Jugdeep Bal, VP of Partnerships, Spotnana

“As Spotnana continues to grow our partner ecosystem, AI will serve as the backbone for corporate travel management by driving efficiency, reducing costs, and improving employee satisfaction. Companies that leverage AI technologies effectively will gain a competitive advantage by optimizing their travel operations and enhancing overall productivity.”