Navan and Skift released the eighth annual business travel and expense report; 58% of travelers expect to travel more in 2027, and 87% of travelers and 89% of travel and finance managers consider business travel essential or necessary.
Why recommended:The report uses data from the same group of respondents to compare the perception gaps between travelers and managers on disruptions, reimbursement, and off-platform booking, which can help travel procurement teams calibrate priorities.
Speaking at WiT Singapore 2026, Etraveli Group CEO Mathias Hedlund said AI or large models have not yet solved the complete challenge of the flight back end, from procurement, pricing and fulfillment to service, and that this is precisely the business the company has bet on for twenty years.
Why recommended:The Etraveli CEO pulls the focus of competition from the AI front end back to the flight back end, and gives specific operating terms for the B2B platform's modularization and anti-fraud capabilities.
Expedia Group reported results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026, with gross bookings of $34.008 billion, up 11% year over year, and revenue of $4.938 billion, up 12% year over year.
Why recommended:The earnings disclosure shows B2B gross bookings grew 19% and revenue grew 23%, which can be used to observe the growth rate and structural changes of corporate travel distribution channels.
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European Commission Press CornerSelectedAI Rating7070
The College of the European Commission adopted the first EU sustainable tourism strategy, setting out ten action areas around three pillars: competitiveness, sustainability and resilience, and raising the profile of European destinations. The strategy proposes establishing an EU tourism academy, an EU tourism observatory and a common European tourism data space, and plans to put forward a recommendation on a balanced tourism council and an EU toolbox; under the current multiannual financial framework, tourism involves 15 funding programmes, with about EUR 18 billion in support expected by the end of this programming period.
Why recommended:The European Commission adopted the first sustainable tourism strategy, setting out six objectives and three pillars, and providing funding and coordination mechanism arrangements.
The European Commission has proposed a new EU sustainable tourism strategy aimed at enhancing the competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of the tourism industry. The strategy's flagship actions include the EU Tourism Academy, the EU Tourism Observatory, the common European tourism data space and tourism simplification initiatives, and will bring together national and local authorities, tourism businesses and stakeholders through the EU Tourism Alliance. The Commission states that tourism accounts for 10% of the EU's total added value, supports more than 20 million jobs, and Europe accounts for about 40% of global international tourist arrivals.
Why recommended:The European Commission has published a sustainable tourism strategy, listing flagship actions and governance tools, on the basis of which readers can assess medium-term changes in European destination management and the corporate travel environment.
European Commission Press CornerSelectedAI Rating6868
The European Commission has published a Q&A on the EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy, explaining that the strategy does not harmonise national laws but provides a common framework for cross-border coordination, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and data and transport connectivity. The strategy proposes establishing a European Tourism Data Space and an EU Tourism Observatory, an EU Tourism Academy, and puts forward a Council recommendation and toolbox on balanced tourism; the relevant tools will be discussed with member states and are to be readied before next summer.
Why recommended:The European Commission explains the coordination framework of the sustainable tourism strategy in Q&A form, allowing readers to understand its policy orientation toward small and medium-sized enterprises and data and transport connectivity.
European Commission Press CornerSelectedAI Rating6262
The European Commission has released a new EU sustainable tourism strategy, with the goal of enhancing the competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of the tourism industry. The strategy's flagship actions include the EU Tourism Academy, the EU Tourism Observatory, the Common European Tourism Data Space, the tourism simplification initiative, and advancing a seamless European travel area, accompanied by the EU tourism management model, a Council recommendation, the balanced tourism toolbox and the EU tourism crisis coordination network. Tourism accounts for 10% of the EU's total added value, supports more than 20 million jobs and 5 million enterprises, of which 99% are SMEs; Europe accounts for about 40% of global international tourist arrivals.
Why recommended:The European Commission has released a sustainable tourism strategy, listing flagship actions such as the data space and the Tourism Academy, which can be used to judge the direction of European destination management policy.
GBTA forecasts that 2026 European business travel spending will reach €404 billion ($453.9 billion), up 7.0% year on year, with about 600 million business travel trips originating in Europe, growing only 0.7%. Global business travel spending is expected to grow 7.2% to €1.52 trillion, with trips growing 1.3%, and Europe accounting for 27% of global business travel spending. Germany ranks first in Europe with €79.9 billion, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain; together the five countries account for about 62% of Europe's 2026 business travel spending.
Why recommended:GBTA forecasts that European business travel spending will grow far faster than trip volume, which readers can use to understand the divergence between corporate travel budgets and travel frequency.
A joint survey by GBTA and Cvent shows that 62% of travel managers believe their teams are understaffed, with that proportion rising to 68% among programs with annual travel spend of more than $30 million. Travel programs have an average of 4.9 full-time employees devoting at least 75% of their time, with a median of only 3 people; 36% of travel programs sit within procurement departments and 23% within finance. The survey also shows that 39% of travel buyers believe travel and meetings functions are more integrated than before, and 28% of respondents say travel teams themselves are driving AI transformation.
Why recommended:The survey provides benchmark data on travel team staffing, functional reporting lines, and travel-meetings integration that can be used to compare against one's own team structure.
The GBTA Foundation's 2026 Sustainable Acceleration Challenge, based on data from 204 companies in 28 countries, found that the average corporate travel sustainability maturity score rose from 1.4 in 2025 to 1.5, marking a third consecutive year of slight improvement.
Why recommended:Three-year benchmark data from 204 companies show that sustainable procurement and decarbonization investment are advancing, while emissions tracking and booking tool adoption have stalled, which can be used to identify weak points in travel sustainability programs.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is preparing to take enforcement action against Booking Holdings and its subsidiary Priceline over misleading search ads that direct travelers from hotel official websites to lookalike third-party domains such as Guest Reservations, with reported potential fines exceeding $500 million.
Why recommended:The original text uses data on approximately 1.1 million third-party brand-term ads and 38% complaints to explain that fines cannot immediately restore hotel direct bookings.
IATA released global passenger data for September 2026: total demand measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) fell 0.5% year-on-year, total capacity (ASK) fell 0.2%, and the load factor was 83.2%, down 0.3 percentage points year-on-year.
Why recommended:IATA's global passenger demand turned negative year-on-year in September; the regional divergence data can serve as a reference for corporate travel budgets and route negotiations.
SAP Concur's eighth global business travel survey shows that 60% of surveyed CFOs say corporate travel expense fraud is increasing, and 92% of CFOs believe employees may use AI to falsify travel expenses or receipts, up from 84% in 2025.
Why recommended:The survey shows that expense fraud and employees actively not reporting legitimate expenses exist simultaneously, which readers can use to understand why expense data is incomplete.
IATA released the 2026 Global Passenger Survey: 58% of passengers experienced biometrics at airports in the past 12 months, up from 50% in 2025, with satisfaction with biometrics reaching 87%. 49% of passengers have used AI to plan travel, of which 21% used it to search for flights to a specific destination; 43% of passengers abandoned a destination due to entry requirements, up from 33% in 2025, of which 53% considered the process too complex. The survey is based on more than 10,000 responses from over 200 countries.
Why recommended:The IATA 2026 Global Passenger Survey shows that biometric usage and entry-requirement obstacles are rising in tandem, which can be used to assess the room for advancing airport processes and visa digitalization.
IATA data shows that in 2025 global airlines will incur $24.5 billion in payment costs on $1.05 trillion in sales, up 10.4% from 2023, higher than the 7.7% increase in sales over the same period. The average cost per transaction is $5 per passenger, of which payment fees of $20.7 billion account for 84.5%, and the average card payment rate is 2.53%. IATA is promoting payment efficiency improvements through IATA Pay, IFG and a new corporate travel payment solution.
Why recommended:IATA data reveals that payment costs are growing faster than sales, and provides specific comparisons of card payment rates and alternative payment solutions.
Accor's Q3 2026 RevPAR rose 4.9% year on year, with revenue of €1.503 billion, up 7.7% at constant exchange rates. In the quarter it opened 63 hotels and nearly 9,000 rooms, net unit growth over the past 12 months was 3.0%, and it raised its full-year recurring EBITDA guidance to €1.270–1.285 billion. RevPAR in the Luxury & Lifestyle division grew 8.3%; in the Middle East, affected by conflict, UAE RevPAR was still down about 20% year on year.
Why recommended:Accor's Q3 results give specific figures for RevPAR, rooms opened and the raised full-year EBITDA guidance, which can be used to observe trends in hotel supply and business travel demand.
Amadeus Travel Intelligence analysis shows that during the 2026 Asia tours of BTS and BIGBANG, flight bookings to Nagoya increased 100% year on year, Singapore rose 62%, and Bangkok rose 41%.
Why recommended:Amadeus uses flight booking and hotel occupancy data from concert windows to quantify the short-term boost that large-scale performances bring to travel demand for Asian destinations.
The US Bureau of Transportation Statistics released the Transportation Consumer Price Index for September 2026. The CPI for transportation goods and services rose 7.9% from September 2025 to September 2026, contributing 35.4% to the 3.7% price increase for all goods and services.
Why recommended:The US transportation CPI rose 7.9% year-on-year; the gasoline and airfare sub-index data can serve as a reference for corporate travel costs and budget adjustments.
Amex GBT announced the launch of Hotel Lobby, a set of autonomous multi-agent AI capabilities, within its global hotel sourcing and consulting business to automate data cleansing, wish-rate calculation, and RFP validation.
Why recommended:Amex GBT is changing hotel sourcing from an annual RFP cycle to year-round automated auditing, which readers can use to assess changes in enterprise travel sourcing and hotel negotiation processes.
Booking Holdings has launched AI travel startup Vayo, planning to invest $100 million, depending on product progress and market conditions; waitlist applications for a free invite-only beta are now open.
Why recommended:Booking Holdings has launched the AI travel assistant Vayo as an independent startup; its cross-channel integration and proactive monitoring approach can serve as a reference for business travel product design.