Dive Brief:

• Recent geopolitical tensions, including war in Iran and the Middle East, are straining global business travel — moderately or significantly impacting the meeting and business travel decisions of 76% of those purchasing plane tickets, hotel rooms and other business-travel related goods and services, a new report from the Global Business Travel Association found. 
• In total, 83% of travel suppliers indicated their customers were materially affected by the conflicts, with half of all businesses making route and itinerary changes and suspending all travel to conflict-affected regions in response, according to the GBTA’s April poll of 500 corporate travel managers, travel suppliers and intermediaries. 
• “What we’re seeing is not a broad pullback from business travel, but a more deliberate and carefully managed approach to it,” said Suzanne Neufang, CEO of the GBTA in a statement. “Organizations continue to travel and meet — and innovate — but they’re doing so while adapting to rising costs, operational friction and escalating geopolitical tensions.” 

Dive Insight:

Corporate travel made a booming recovery after collapsing during the COVID-19 pandemic — as business travel activity grew 54% between early 2023 and 2025, Navan’s Q4 2025 Business Travel Index found. Many younger Gen Z and millennial workers viewed such business trips as a personal perk that allowed them to stay at nicer hotels, enjoy luxury dining, and boast of their trips on social media.  

But since the U.S. and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran, and Israel targeted Hezbollah military in Lebanon, business organizations have been forced to re-evaluate their plans. 

Geopolitical instability and conflict was cited as the top travel-related risk by 79% of corporate travel managers, travel suppliers and intermediaries — marking it as the business travel industry’s leading concern globally. Geopolitics was identified as a primary risk by 92% of the poll’s respondents based in Europe, and 72% that are based in North America, the report stated. 

In this fraught environment, businesses are weighing the corporate needs of trips against obligations to ensure their workers are out of harm’s way and safe when traveling, known as the duty of care. Over a third of respondents (36%) reported re-evaluating their duty of care policies. 

There has also been a stark drop in optimism towards the business travel industry — falling from 59% in January to 41% by the April poll. Travel industry pessimism also nearly tripled from 9% in January to 24% in April. That reflects the “heightened exposure to geopolitical instability, travel affordability pressures and overall disruption,” the report stated. 

While many business travelers are still expected to hit the road this year, slightly fewer organizations (30%) are expecting a year-over-year increase in business trips, down from 35% in January, the report added. 

The anxiety could also lead to fewer business meetings and events, with 38% of buyers saying they’re less likely to host multinational meetings in the U.S. than they were six months prior.. 

In total, 56% stated their organization has changed its meetings or events strategies over the past three months — with 26% shifting some meetings to virtual formats, 24% cancelling meetings or events or reducing employee event attendance, and 22% relocating meetings to different markets. 

“These pressures are reshaping how, where and why companies are traveling now,” said Neufang. That’s “making experienced business travel professionals more critical than ever to keeping travelers safe, navigating risk and disruption, and controlling budgets so organizations and people can continue to connect and do business.”