by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 12:10 PM ET, Tue December 2, 2025
Managed business travel directly improves a corporation’s revenue, according to new data by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), conducted in partnership with the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA).
The study, called “Quantifying the Return on Investment of U.S. Business Travel: Company Benchmarking Analysis” took a look at over 3,200 firms in the U.S. across 17 different industries to see the impact managed corporate travel has on the corporations themselves.
The findings? Every one percent increase in managed travel spending corresponds with a 0.20 percent rise in company revenue, and those with data-driven travel policies outperform those without such plans by up to 30 percent.
Companies with travel management programs do spend more on travel, with about 0.76 percent of revenue being spent on corporate travel management, versus the 0.65 percent of revenue being spent on corporate travel by those without corporate travel management programs.
“The findings from this new GBTA–ASTA analysis reaffirm what our corporate travel community has long understood: strategically managed business travel directly supports stronger company performance,” said Mark Meader, Executive Vice President of ASTA Corporate.
“When organizations ground their travel programs in data, smart policy design and practical flexibility, they don’t just manage costs, they enable growth. This benchmarking gives companies a clear, evidence-based understanding of how their travel investment compares to peers and how thoughtful management can translate into meaningful revenue gains.”
The data supports a previous ROI study conducted in July by the same associations, which found that an 8.3 percent increase in corporate travel and entertainment budgets could drive up to a 6 percent jump in sales.
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