Posted on Monday, December 15 2025
Morgan Stanley projects corporate travel will rise by at least 5% globally in 2026, with virtual meetings having a shrinking effect on in-person demand. Travel managers anticipate increases in air travel, accommodation, and overall trip volume – but organizations are still under pressure to manage costs, streamline processes, and get more value out of every business trip. Here’s what you can do right now to stay ahead of it.
1. Spend time analyzing your 2025 data
This doesn't have to mean hours in spreadsheets. Take stock of your travel function from last year: the most common destinations and trip lengths, average booking lead times, which types of travel were most used, and which issues came up most often. Understanding your baseline helps you prioritize what actually needs to change in 2026.
2. Talk to your most frequent travellers
In most organizations, a small group of individuals or teams accounts for the majority of travel. These frequent travellers can tell you things your data can’t: which trips delivered real business value, how much was genuinely last-minute versus preventable, hidden productivity drains, and which policies helped – or got in the way. The more insight you gather here, the better positioned you are to design solutions that work.
3. Be proactive, not reactive
Acting purely as an interal travel agency – fulfilling requests as they come in – leaves you at the mercy of fluctuating demand, duplicated effort, and last-minute bookings that blow your budget. Instead, schedule conversations with the departments that travel most heavily. Understand their business goals for th eyear and anticipate their likely travel needs. You won’t eliminate every unplanned request, but you can put policies in place to significantly reduce cost and time disruptions.
4. Create or revisit your travel policy
Studies suggest as many as 80% of corporate travellers book outside office channels, usually because they find the process frustrating or don’t fully understand the policy. The result:
Higher costs
Less oversight
Safety risks for overseas travellers
If you don’t have a detailed travel policy, 2026 is the year to build one. If you have one that isn’t being followed, make sure it’s easy to understand and that it’s been clearly communicated across the organization.
5. Get creative with your travel options
One reason employees go rogue with bookings is that they’ve found options that are more flexible or comfortable than what corporate is offering. It may be time to bring some of those alternatives in-house: a long-term corporate housing arrangement in a city where employees travel frequently, a negotiated booking process with a preferred transportation provider, or incentives for policy compliance. The most effective travel functions aren’t the ones that stick to how things have always been done.
6. Measure and report on travel ROI
As travel budgets grow, so does executive scrutiny. Build a simple framework for tracking what travel is actually delivering: deals closed, project advanced, relationships built. When you can connect travel spend to business outcomes, you move from being a cost centre to a strategic function – and you earn the trust to make bolder decisions about how travel is managed.
How much is corporate travel expected to grow in 2026?
Morgan Stanley projects corporate travel will rise by at least 5% globally in 2026, with virtual meetings having a shrinking impact on in-person travel demand. Travel managers anticipate increases across air travel, accommodation, and overall trip volume.
Why do employees book travel outside of corporate channels?
Studies suggest up to 80% of corporate travelers book outside official channels, typically because they find the process frustrating or are unaware of their organization's travel policies. This results in higher costs, reduced oversight, and potential safety risks — especially for international travel.
How can travel managers reduce last-minute bookings?
The most effective approach is proactive planning: meet with high-travel departments at the start of the year to understand their goals and likely travel needs. Pairing this with clear booking lead-time incentives and a streamlined policy significantly reduces reactive, last-minute requests.
What is corporate housing and how does it help travel managers?
Corporate housing refers to fully furnished suites, homes, or apartments arranged for business travellers on extended stays. For travel managers, it offers a cost-effective alternative to hotels for frequent or longer-duration trips — with more predictable pricing, more space, and a better overall employee experience.
As the largest provider of corporate housing in Canada, Premiere Suites is built for exactly the kind of travel challenges organizations face in 2026. With more than 1,500 furnished suites, homes, and townhomes across Canada – plus a network of over 10,000 additional furnished residences – we have accommodations to suit any requirement. And our processes are specifically designed to make travel managers’ lives easier. Contact our team today to learn more.