Longer business trips in 2024 are growing at a faster rate than shorter trips, indicating growth in blended business and leisure travel, according to booking data provided by Flight Centre’s Corporate Traveler and FCM Travel.
The data, which compared trips taken from April 1 through Sept. 30 with the same period in 2023, showed trips of at least seven days duration had the highest increase, up 9 percent year over year. Trips of six or seven days were up 8.5 percent year over year, trips of four or five days were up 8 percent and trips of two or three days were up 7 percent. Single-day business trips were up 4 percent year over year, according to the data.
The travel management companies said the data shows travelers are “booking longer trips with leisure add-ons,” which “has encouraged a healthier balance between one’s work and one’s personal life.” Flight Centre’s State of the Market survey, released in September and which included 562 global client respondents, showed 75 percent of businesses have travelers adding leisure elements to work trips.
The Corporate Traveler and FCM data showed the top U.S. destinations during the six-month period were New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Outside of the U.S., the top destinations were London, Taipei, Singapore, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.
