The landscape of German business travel is undergoing a significant transformation. Far from simply bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels, 2025 is shaping up to be a year of strategic reorientation.
The latest VDR Business Travel Analysis 2025, the 23rd edition of this key report, offers crucial insights into how German companies are navigating complex challenges and redefining the purpose and execution of business trips.
A Stabilising Market: Fewer Trips, Higher Spending
The report highlights that the market is in a phase of stabilisation rather than growth in trip volume. In 2024, the number of business trips was 107.1 million, an 8% decrease from 2023. However, this decline in volume is accompanied by a notable increase in expenditure. Total business travel expenditure rose by 2% to €47.2 billion in 2024, resulting in a significant 7% increase in the average cost per trip, reaching €439.
This suggests that companies are not cutting back entirely but are instead making more selective and purposeful travel decisions.
Efficiency Over Routine: Business Travel as Strategy
As the report puts it, "Instead of purely trip numbers, strategic questions are moving into focus". Companies are engaging in "structural consolidation," bundling appointments, and optimising routes to increase efficiency. Travel is viewed less as a routine activity and more as a strategic tool with specific priorities.
International Travel on the Rise
One of the most prominent trends identified is the clear shift towards international business travel. In 2024, the share of international business trips rose significantly to 35% of the total, up from 28% in 2023 and 26% in 2022.
This trend is heavily focused on European markets, accounting for 25% of all trips, with the rest of the world making up 10%.
Conversely, the share of domestic business trips has decreased, falling to 65% in 2024. This move reflects a push for "greater global engagement" and the recognition that "personal presence is often more than just a signal – it is a strategic success factor" in a globally connected economy.
Face-to-face interactions are increasingly prioritised for: crucial activities like
- Customer relations
- Market development
- Partnership maintenance
SMEs and Large Companies: Different Dynamics
The report also sheds light on the distinct roles played by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and larger companies. SMEs remain a significant force, accounting for the majority of total expenditure (€36.5 billion) in 2024. However, they are shown to be more sensitive to economic fluctuations than their larger counterparts. The overall decrease in the number of business trips is almost entirely attributable to SMEs, whose travel numbers fell from 93.3 million to 83.7 million, while larger companies maintained a stable 23.4 million trips.
Interestingly, despite reducing the number of trips, SMEs are increasing their investment per trip, indicating a strategic focus on "business-critical occasions" and a willingness to spend more on these essential journeys, possibly influenced by market price increases.
Sustainability Becomes a Strategic Driver
Green Goals Take Center Stage
Sustainability is no longer just a concept but a practical imperative driving changes in German business travel. Companies are increasingly integrating travel policies with climate goals and corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. Concrete measures are being pursued or planned, such as:
- Promoting rail over air: 63% in 2024, projected to rise to 69%
- Using electric vehicles: 46%, projected to 74%
- Encouraging carpooling: 49%, projected to 65%
Social Sustainability Gains Visibility
While the ecological dimension is still developing for many, the social aspect of sustainability, including employee well-being, working conditions, and flexible travel options like Blended Travel and Workation, is already more visible (43% in 2024, increasing to 55% in 2025).
Carbon Programs and Budgets
There is also growing engagement with CO2 compensation programs (currently 19%, with an expected nearly threefold increase) and the introduction of CO2 budgets for business travel (currently 17%, with plans to reach 51% by 2026 or later). "Sustainability is becoming a driving force here," the report states, requiring companies to link travel policies with climate goals and CSR strategies.
Domestic Travel Decisions: Rail vs. Air
Time and Cost Still Rule
When it comes to domestic travel, the choice between rail and air is still heavily influenced by time and cost. Shorter travel times (cited by 76%) and lower costs (67%) remain key drivers for choosing domestic flights.
However, the report highlights a significant willingness among companies to embrace rail, even if it means longer journey times. A substantial 82% of companies are prepared to accept up to three hours of additional travel time by train compared to flying, and 35% would accept up to four hours.
This demonstrates a "strong readiness to shift to more sustainable transport options," provided the time increase is manageable and the rail infrastructure offers good connections and reliability.
The Emergence of AI in Travel Management
Current Use and Future Outlook
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is identified as a key technological development for business travel management, though its current adoption is somewhat limited. In 2024, 32% of companies were actively engaging with AI, a figure projected to nearly double to 63% by 2026 or later.
Here’s the adoption breakdown between large and small companies:
- Large companies: 48%
- SMEs: 23%
These figures are likely due to greater resources and data volume by larger companies. Currently, AI primarily functions as a "digital helper" in areas like data management, reporting, and information/communication. While less common currently, companies express high interest in using AI for travel expense accounting and booking in the future, indicating a desire for greater automation and efficiency in these areas.
Safety and Security as Strategic Priorities
Travel safety and security have gained considerable importance, moving beyond mere logistics to become a core element of corporate responsibility. Driven partly by new standards like ISO 31030, the focus is shifting towards a proactive approach to risk management.
- 92% of companies report increased importance
- 54% say it's "significantly" more important
Key responsibility is largely placed with Travel Management (51%) and Human Resources (37%).
The report also acknowledges that companies are also implementing a wide range of measures, including:
- Compliance policies: 80%
- Occupational health measures: 67%
- Cybersecurity & information safety: 68%
- Emergency planning: 68%
- Travel policies in place: 93%
- Active compliance monitoring: 98%
Despite the advancements in digital communication, the report emphatically states that personal interaction is vital for building trust, developing relationships, and opening doors that might remain closed digitally, particularly for "business initiation, international sales, and in innovation-driven sectors".
The report elaborates on this reasoning: "Because trust is only built to a limited extent via screen".
Conclusion: A Market on the Move
The VDR Business Travel Analysis 2025 paints a picture of a German business travel market in a state of dynamic evolution. It is characterised by:
- Strategic reorientation
- Global engagement
- Heightened focus on sustainability and safety
- Adoption of AI
- Continued value in personal interaction
Travel Management is evolving into a multidisciplinary function, balancing efficiency, cost awareness, sustainability, and human connection in a complex global environment. The report provides a valuable roadmap, showing a market that is "not at its destination, but clearly on course", presenting a "landkarte voller Möglichkeiten" – a map full of possibilities for those willing to navigate the changes.
For further details, please read the full report.