Canadian Businesses Still Travelling

As business belts are being tightened across the board, one outlier stands out: travel. A recent YouGov study by Corporate Traveller Canada indicates that despite inflation and tariffs that feel constantly in flux, businesses are still spending on travel.

Of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) surveyed, four in ten (40 percent) are spending more on travel than they did in 2024. And they expect to keep spending: 42 percent plan to increase travel budgets.

Corporate Traveller Canada states that these numbers indicate the importance businesses place on “in-person relationship building, business acquisition and team connectivity.” 

Related: Meet the New Generation of Business Traveller: Gen Z

Corporate Traveller Canada reports a six percent bump in business travel bookings for 2025 Q1 compared with the first quarter of 2024. Most of the bookings are from professional services and the mining and manufacturing sectors.

“Our data shows that 55 per cent of Canadian SMEs worry the inflation rate will increase over the next 12 months, yet most aren’t pulling back on travel,” says Chris Lynes, Managing Director for Flight Centre Travel Group Canada. “Instead, they’re optimizing how they travel,  leveraging cost controls, smart policies and technology so they can stay agile without sacrificing business growth.”

Cutting Costs

According to the survey, most businesses are looking to control costs, but only 30 percent indicate they have cut back on travel. Instead, these are the ways businesses have been maximizing budgets:

• Opted for cost-effective options (economy class, budget accommodations) - 32%
• Encouraged or mandated advanced bookings to secure lower rates - 28%
• Reviewed and optimized travel policies - 27%
• Set stricter travel expense limits and budgets - 25%
• Negotiated discounts with airlines, hotels or car rental companies - 24%
• Implemented an approval process for all travel requests - 24%
• Used data analytics or technology (e.g. AI-based tools) to monitor and control travel expenses - 21%

Other survey findings include the prevalence of fear over rising inflation: Almost 3 in 4 (70 percent) Canadian SMEs fear that inflation will affect their business’s ability to afford corporate travel.

However, more than 4 in 5 (82 percent) SMEs believe demand for corporate travel will be the same as or higher than pre-pandemic levels over the next 12 months and the majority of SMEs think corporate travel remains viable. Taking the current and forecast inflationary environment into account, 15 percent of SMEs say travel remains highly viable (little to no change) and almost half (48 percent) say it’s viable, though some reduction may be necessary.

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