The reasons for taking business trips are legion: there’s the executive who can’t afford not to attend that client meeting in China for fear of losing them to a competitor, or that essential conference in Miami allowing a sales manager to meet new partners and generate fresh income. In an age of scrutiny, putting a euro, pound or dollar value on every air mile or hotel room night is increasingly important.

That’s because we now live at a time when videoconferencing and virtual collaboration compete with many in-person trips, enabling us to reduce travel-related carbon emissions, mitigate the impact of travel on individuals, and, of course, keep travel spend in check.

The pandemic showed firms what they’re capable of digitally. Justifying budgets is vital, and ‘Planet, people and profit’ is the mantra when it comes to return on investment.

“The landscape has evolved significantly, making the ROI of business travel more critical and complex,” says Raphael Pasdeloup, senior vice president for global customer management at CWT. “At the same time, calculating ROI remains one of the industry’s most complex challenges, because it goes beyond any straightforward cost-benefit analysis.”

The devil is in the data

An increasing number of corporates now collect data on the ROI of business trips. The financial returns that a company gets from signing a new contract on a trip or retaining a client are potentially easy to put a value on. Sophisticated pre- and post-trip evaluations also make such calculations easier.

“We’re also seeing greater integration of travel and expense policies, which enables companies to report on the true cost of winning a deal, from the plane ticket to the dinner. With advancements in granular sustainability data, we can also include the CO2 impact,” says Fred Stratford, group CEO of travel management company Reed & Mackay.

But it is not always as easy as that and there are still many challenges. A lot of data still sits in siloes and travel costs are often outside an organisation’s core ERP and CRM systems.

One travel manager echoes such sentiment: “ROI can be problematic to measure unless you fit within one of three categories. Firstly, you are within a revenue generating role. Secondly, you have fixed financial metrics for your work. Or thirdly, you are in a company where everyone in every role is measured against some form of numerical value.”

ROI can also be defined differently depending on the type of travel. For instance, training or internal meetings versus marketing or customer meeting and events – each has a different set of values. “Not all business trips have a direct link to an immediate revenue return and therefore measurements and data points need to be agreed upon by trip purpose in order to calibrate these,” says Kerry Douglas, head of programme at the UK’s Institute of Travel Management.

The ITM has also found that many travel managers aren’t actively involved in a company’s decision making when it comes to the ROI of a trip – only 31 per cent said they have influence in this area in a recent ITM poll. If those managing travel aren’t at the table on this issue, it is not surprising that there is little connection between investment and return.

“The challenge is that we’re really only at the beginning of this and studies to date – for instance the Oxford Economics research some years ago that said every $1 spent on travel returns $15 in sales – aren’t sophisticated enough or independent enough, since they’re a bit self-serving,” says Paul Tilstone, founder of Temoji Consulting. “We need to see companies defining where travel brings real value, and assessing the impacts – when they under- or overspend on travel.” 

He continues: “Outside of the sales function you need to determine what constitutes success and value first, then you can measure the financial, carbon and people impact of travel to deliver on that success, but it gets very nuanced. Personally, I think this is the topic of our time and we aren’t doing enough about it.”

No rule book on ROI

Within the business travel community there is no established best practice on how to manage the true return on investment of a business trip. Legacy travel tools also don’t account for such metrics either, especially in an age of fragmented and dynamic content, which makes it harder to compare like-for-like costs.

There’s also the question of whose role is it to make such calculations? Is the travel management company expected to deliver ROI metrics at the point of sale, or is it the job of the company’s procurement department, or is it a more strategic function? It is a grey area.

“Only the business itself can set the goals for its trips and measure against them, but many are leaning on their travel partners to help put structure around this,” says Stratford.

He adds: “Companies need to consider measuring success factors, such as deals closed, across both virtual and in-person meetings. That then enables an overall ROI metric by looking at how many deals included in-person meetings versus those handled virtually. However, few companies currently measure corporate travel ROI at this granular level.” And therein lies the crux of the matter.

Falling between the cracks

Where travel sits in terms of a business cost on the company’s books is also still a challenge. It is mostly seen as an operational cost rather than an investment for enterprises, and is therefore sometimes perceived as a low priority spend for the c-suite, in terms of scrutiny.

“In 2025 travel managers should adapt a new approach, change travel programmes, create travel policies with strategic goals, shift the focus from cost to purpose, and set incentives based on ROI, not on savings,” believes Michael Friedrich, co-founder and CEO of Tagtu, a platform that helps users maximise the value of business trips. “There should also be a change in mindset from travel being a cost centre to being a creator of value. But nothing works without the support of corporate leadership.”

A focus on purpose-led travel could be one way of reframing how business trips are calibrated. ITM has observed travel buyers having to select which one of their company values a trip aligns to. This enables managers to report where budget and time is being spent across each of a company’s priorities, which can then support better financial metrics.

“It’s why we believe that the focus of travel management is now shifting from the ‘how’ to the ‘why’ of business travel,” echoes Katie Virtue, head of sales and marketing at travel management consultancy Festive Road. “The ‘missing link’ is to find the connection between travel programme objectives and the overarching corporate objectives and purpose. Businesses should consider ROO – return on objectives,” she adds.

Another eventual goal is to improve the culture around travel bookings so that staff ultimately make the right decisions every time, asking the right questions as to whether a trip is worth it or not – and this is where AI-driven data analytics could help.

“Travellers do want to do the right thing,” explains Andy Raimond, practice lead for program optimisation at Amex GBT Consulting. “They want to travel with purpose, book in line with policy and comply with the organisation’s goals and company culture. So, it’s important to empower them to make good choices that work for them and the company.”

ESG to the fore

With sustainability coming to the fore, it is now an increasingly important prism through which the ROI of travel is viewed. Carbon budgets alongside financial ones are becoming an important factor in ROI calculations, as corporations grapple with their scope 3 emissions and broader sustainability goals.

“Each trip now faces a dual evaluation: financial return and environmental impact,” points out CWT’s Pasdeloup. “Companies increasingly seek ways to maximise the value of necessary trips while minimising their carbon footprint, whether through trip batching, prioritising impactful travel or leveraging more sustainable options.”

The interplay between financial, social and environmental factors will certainly demand more sophisticated pre- and post-trip evaluations, integrated tools and data analysis, both quantitative and qualitative, in the future in order to determine whether a trip’s outcomes justify the investment.

“Instead of asking, ‘can we afford to travel?’ the question should be, ‘can we afford to travel inefficiently and unsustainably?’,” states Horst Bayer, founder of TravelHorst, a consultancy focused on sustainable travel. “Companies must shift their mindset to see travel as not just a financial necessity but also a driver of social and environmental responsibility, ensuring that the ROI captures these broader impacts.”

He concludes: “Companies must now evaluate whether the expected financial gains from a trip justify its carbon cost, which has led to greater consideration of lower-impact travel options and alternatives like virtual meetings.” We’re still a long way from a holistic view on the ROI of business travel, but we are making progess.