Client meetings, sales-related travel and internal business-critical movement continue to dominate business travel demand
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Corporate travel is gaining momentum as companies explore new markets, according to travel companies. While there is no let-up in sentiment, companies are exercising sharper controls through advance booking mandates and closer monitoring of travel spends in view of rising airfares. Renegotiation of supplier contracts and stricter approval workflows have also emerged as key levers to offset rising costs.
“Nearly 65 per cent of corporates expect their business travel volumes to increase over the next 12 months, while 30 per cent expect it to remain stable. Only 5 per cent anticipate a decline,” said Thomas Cook India & SOTC in their business travel report on Monday.
Client meetings, sales-related travel and internal business-critical movement continue to dominate business travel demand, it said. India continues to attract global capital, with gross foreign direct investment increasing 14-15 per cent last year. Similarly, Indian companies, too, are expanding overseas, resulting in an increase in business travel.
key hubs
Yet nearly 72 per cent of corporate travel is within India, with key hubs such as Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune dominating demand, said Thomas Cook India. On the international side, South East Asia, West Asia, Europe, US and Australia remained preferred destinations for leadership meetings, supplier engagements and business expansion.
MakeMyTrip recorded gross bookings of $ 1 billion from corporate travel in 2025, and this segment now constitutes 10 per cent of its overall gross bookings with the company widening its customer base. Cleartrip, too, is seeing strong pick-up in corporate travel in the first quarter of CY2026 compared to last year.
“We have witnessed over 20 per cent y-o-y growth in corporate bookings in January. This growth is being driven by higher client-facing travel, regional expansion by companies and a visible uptick in corporate offsites and team travel,” said Gaurav Patwari, Chief Business Officer (Air), Cleartrip.
“We expect overall corporate travel to grow in double-digits in CY26. Pharma and cement continue to be among the largest contributors to corporate travel, while FMCG and BFSI are emerging as fast-growing segments,” he added.
Published on February 23, 2026