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The top four things business travelers want

May 27, 2026
4 Min read
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Mark Cullen
Mark Cullen
Chief Commercial Officer - Amadeus Cytric Solutions
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Business travelers continue to face avoidable friction across their journey.

Research shows higher stress levels driven by four recurring pain points: finding suitable accommodation, comparing prices, understanding fees, and moving smoothly to and from the airport.

Reducing friction across these moments is a clear opportunity for the industry to simplify travel, lower stress, and support traveler productivity.

Business travel volumes have remained remarkably resilient this year, with the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) forecasting spending will reach $1.69 trillion, an 8.1% year-over-year increase versus 2025. The figure underscores the strength of our industry, even amid economic uncertainty and regulatory shifts.


But despite these rosy figures, travel friction has not disappeared.


Data from our Friction Removed research project shows business travelers continue to experience higher levels of stress than leisure counterparts while on the road. This means wasted time, added anxiety, and reduced productivity.


Often this is simply because business travelers are on the road more frequently, but our research also points to concerns around pricing transparency, fees, accommodation choice, and airport transit. The work highlights a clear opportunity for the travel industry to simplify journeys and reduce friction across the end‑to‑end experience.


Below, we look at the top four pain points for business travelers and explore what steps we can take as an industry to help.


Four things business travelers want most:

  • To find suitable accommodation easily

    Finding accommodation is the single biggest friction point among business travelers. Our report shows 45% of business travelers find this part of a trip distressing, versus 33% of leisure travelers. The challenge often lies in balancing location, company policy, availability, amenities, and loyalty preferences, all within tight timelines and frequently changing schedules.


  • To compare prices without stress


    Comparing prices across multiple sites remains a major source of friction for business travelers. Our research with more than 1,000 United States-based travelers finds that 44% of business travelers say this process is very or somewhat distressing, higher than the 39% recorded among leisure travelers. The need to check multiple platforms, reconcile policy requirements, and balance cost with convenience adds complexity to what should be a simple booking decision.


  • To understand total cost, fees and taxes

    Understanding fees and taxes is another major point where business travelers experience disproportionate frustration. According to Friction Removed research, 42% find navigating additional charges distressing, compared with 36% of leisure travelers. Hidden costs, unclear inclusions, and inconsistent pricing structures make it harder for travelers to understand total trip costs and stay within corporate policy.


  • To move around with no hassle

    Transit is also a major stressor within the business travel journey. Around 44% of business travelers rank getting to and from the airport, including taxis, rideshare, and car rental, among the most stressful parts of the trip. This highlights how friction extends beyond booking into the end-to-end journey, particularly where connections, timing, and reliability matter most.

How can technology help improve business travel?

Amadeus Cytric can help business travelers by building smoother, end-to-end experiences tailored to their needs.


When it comes to comparing prices across multiple sites, for example, our platform brings rich, multi-source content into a single interface, with side-by-side comparisons and AI-powered recommendations that automatically apply corporate policy. Travelers can search, compare and book flights, hotels or cars directly within Microsoft Teams, reducing the need to jump between platforms and simplifying decision-making.


Finding suitable accommodation is also made easier, streamlined through AI-driven search and personalized recommendations. Cytric's generative AI assistant proposes hotel options such as ‘cheapest,’ ‘nearest,’ or ‘premium,’ based on traveler preferences and corporate policy.


Access to comprehensive content, including NDC offers and curated options, helps business travelers quickly identify appropriate stays without manually filtering across multiple sources.


Finally, transit to and from the airport is another common stress point which Cytric tackles through collaboration and end-to-end trip coordination. Features such as Share My Transfer allow colleagues arriving at similar times to share taxis, while AI-driven trip suggestions and integrated booking workflows help coordinate transfers alongside flights and hotels. This creates a more connected journey and reduces last-mile travel friction, allowing business travelers to focus on the actual purpose of their trip instead of worrying about its logistics.

Wider adoption of these new solutions is a real opportunity to reduce stress among business travelers, which drives more valuable interactions, and more impactful trips. There is more in the full Friction Removed report here – give it a read to find out more about how transformative technology is helping the industry overcome the pain points of a journey.

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