When business travel becomes more expensive, the obvious question is whether the trip is worth it.
That question sits at the heart of the Global Business Travel Association's latest Business Travel Index.
GBTA forecasts companies and business travellers will spend a record US$1.71 trillion on business travel globally in 2026, 7.2% more than in 2025.
Yet the number of trips is expected to increase by only 1.3%, from an estimated 1.82 billion in 2025 to around 1.84 billion this year.
GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang says companies haven't stepped away from travel, but have become more "selective and productivity-focused."
That's an important distinction.
The conversation isn't simply about travelling more or travelling less.
It's about getting more value from the trips businesses choose to make.
ROI doesn't begin when the meeting starts
Measuring the value of a business trip will always depend primarily on why someone travelled.
Did the salesperson win the customer? Did the team solve the problem? Did people build a relationship that would have been difficult to establish over a video call?
But there is another, less obvious part of the equation: everything that happens around the meeting.
A three-day business trip might contain only a few hours of formal meetings.
The traveller still has their normal responsibilities.
Projects continue. Teams need responses. Presentations need preparing. Customers need attention. Work that isn't related to the trip doesn't simply disappear.
That means the ability to work effectively between meetings has value too.
Think about the whole journey
This becomes particularly important as businesses scrutinise travel costs.
The 2026 GBTA research identifies elevated transportation costs as one of the major forces shaping business travel this year. It also found that 65% of surveyed travellers work for organisations that require or encourage booking through a travel management company or corporate online booking tool, illustrating how structured and managed corporate travel has become.
Technology should be considered in the same way.
What does someone actually need to remain effective for three or four days away from their normal workplace?
For some people that's little more than a laptop and phone.
For others it might include headphones, additional power, a portable keyboard or a second display.
At espresso Displays, our contribution to that equation is simple: giving people more screen space without requiring them to carry a desktop monitor.
But the larger principle matters more than the product.
If businesses are becoming more selective about travel, they should think not only about where they're sending people and why they're going, but also about how effectively those people can work once they're there.
The meeting might justify the journey.
But the productivity of the entire journey helps determine its real value.
Source: 2026 GBTA Business Travel Index, Annual Global Report & Forecast, Global Business Travel Association, August 2026. GBTA research announcement