If you thought the chaos of the past few years had finally given way to smoother skies for business travel, think again. Just when the industry began to stretch its legs, the U.S. government—never shy of stirring the pot—sent a fresh squall of uncertainty blowing through boardrooms, booking desks, and business lounges alike.
According to the Global Business Travel Association’s (GBTA) latest global poll, conducted in June and released this July, the world’s corporate travel planners are getting twitchy. Tariffs, travel advisories, and political posturing from Washington have sparked a broad rethink, with many companies slamming the brakes on cross-border travel, particularly to the United States.
If corporate travel is a bellwether of business confidence, then the canary in this coal mine just caught a chill.
Suppliers Sound the Alarm: Empty Beds, Empty Pockets
Revenue expectations among suppliers have taken a bruising. Nearly half—48%—now expect business travel income to fall this year, a sharp rise from 37% just three months earlier. Lodging operators are the worst hit, with 58% of hoteliers reporting that bookings from business clients are drying up faster than a minibar after a red-eye landing.
The average revenue dip anticipated is seventeen percent. That’s not a rounding error—it’s a restructuring meeting waiting to happen.
The Passport Problem: International Travel in the Firing Line
Domestic travel, at least, is keeping its shoes on. But the international side of the ledger has been dragged into the interrogation room.
Almost half of travel buyers (49%) now expect their overseas travel activity to decline this year—a significant contrast to the 23% predicting the same for domestic or regional trips. Companies, it seems, are more than happy to put Bob on a flight to Brisbane, but sending him to Boston is now a cause for a full-scale review by legal, finance, and probably HR.
And the figures tell the tale: an average 19% drop in expected international travel. One might say America’s once-bright “open for business” sign is now flickering like a dodgy airport arrivals board.
A Crisis of Confidence, From Singapore to São Paulo
Overall optimism in the business travel sector has taken a nosedive, with just 28% of respondents feeling upbeat about the back half of 2025. Compare that to a relatively buoyant 67% in November last year, and you start to wonder what kind of turbulence lies ahead.
Once bullish, the Asia-Pacific region has a 27% optimism level, down from 40% in April. While corporate buyers hold the line (29%), suppliers and TMCs are rattled, dropping from 36% to 27%.
One wonders whether even the complimentary upgrade to business class can restore their spirits.
Cancelled, Relocated, Digitised: The Vanishing Meeting
What’s a surefire sign of a jittery industry? Cancelled meetings—and they’re being axed with gusto. Eighteen percent of global buyers now report cancelling U.S.-based meetings, up from 13% in April. Events are getting the chop too (17%, up from 10%).
But it’s not just the scissors coming out. Some are rerouting their gatherings—13% have moved meetings offshore, and 12% have relocated events out of the United States.
And if you thought virtual meetings were just a pandemic flashback, think again. 24% of respondents say they’ve moved meetings online due to U.S. policy friction. That’s up from 19% and climbing faster than a late-boarding business traveller hurdling the gate.
Safety Fears and Detentions: The Stuff of Travel Nightmares
There was a time when the worst a traveller had to fear was lost luggage or airline food. Now, safety and border detentions are climbing the worry list. Forty-six percent of respondents cite safety and duty-of-care as top concerns, up nine points from April.
Equally troubling is the spike in concern over border detentions, now flagged by nearly a third of respondents (31%). For some global employees, being grilled by U.S. Customs is no longer a rite of passage but a reason to stay put.
A Shift in Trade Winds: Looking Beyond the Stars and Stripes
Faced with rising uncertainty, some companies choose the path of least resistance and least paperwork by turning to alternative markets. According to the GBTA, 35% of non-U.S. companies actively seek new partners outside the United States.
70% of respondents nominated Europe as the top destination, followed by Asia-Pacific (53%). If the U.S. was once the world’s boardroom, it is now getting mobile.
The message is unmistakable: business is still getting done—but increasingly, it’s being done elsewhere.
When Travel Becomes Too Personal
Perhaps the most damning statistic is the human one. Eighteen percent of travel buyers now say their employees have flatly refused to travel to the U.S.—not for lack of budget or time, but out of personal concern over policies, safety, or treatment at the border.
Even more telling? Thirty-five percent of respondents now know someone whose travel plans have been affected by U.S. policy. That’s up from 23% in April and tells you all you need to know about sentiment: this isn’t abstract. It’s hitting inboxes and itineraries.
Final Boarding Call: A Travel Industry Rewriting Its Flight Path
The conclusion is as clear as the boarding gate departure board on a bad day: U.S. policy shifts send shockwaves through global business travel’s delicate fabric. And while no one’s unplugging the travel adapter yet, the signs are pointing towards a world less eager to take stateside meetings.
If the United States wants to remain a hub for global commerce, it may need to do more than build airports—it might need to rebuild trust.
Because right now, more companies are asking not “when do we leave?” but “should we even go at all?”
🔗 Explore the full GBTA July 2025 poll results and detailed data at GBTA.org.
🔍 Access additional insights and research at GBTA Research.
By Karuna Johnson
