European companies spent more on business travel in 2024, despite “economic weakness” experienced in some countries, according to data from corporate travel payments specialist AirPlus.
Compared to a year prior, European companies spent on average 1.3 per cent more on air travel in 2024, however the company did not provide data on the number of trips taken.
Business travel spend across the company’s core European markets (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK) varied, with the Netherlands and Switzerland reporting notable increases of 8.1 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively. Germany, meanwhile, saw a 1.5 per cent decline in spend and the UK performed “above average” with an increase of 2.6 per cent.
Confirming trends highlighted in its half-year 2024 report, AirPlus noted that “major events are no longer business travel magnets”, with trips booked less frequently than the annual average during the Paris Summer Olympics (where bookings were 46 per cent below average) and the European Football Championship in Germany (11 per cent below average).
AirPlus speculated this shift could be due to hotel rooms and air tickets becoming “a rare and expensive commodity during such events”, and that “compliance guidelines are making it increasingly difficult for companies to invite customers or partners to high-priced events”.
The company also found the number of business trips commencing on a weekend rose to 16.3 per cent, up from 15.8 in 2023, marking the continued popularity of blended travel, where a leisure component is added to a business trip.
Average trip length in 2024 increased slightly to 6.1 days (up from 5.9 in 2023) and the advance booking period rose to an average of 28.9 days, up from 26.4 days.
As companies look to reduce the carbon footprint of their business travel activity, AirPlus also recorded a slight drop in the number of domestic flights and one-day trips, from 32.3 to 31.4 and from 6.8 to 6.5 per cent, respectively.