The Future of Business Travel & Events: Responsible, Secure & Next-Gen Ready

Recently, I’ve been reflecting on how quickly business travel and events are evolving. Drawing on industry insights, client conversations, and sustainability leadership experience, I want to explore how generational change, responsible travel, digital confidence, and smarter mobility are converging and what organisations need to do to get ahead of this shift.

A travel landscape in fast-forward

The way we travel, work, and connect is changing faster than ever. Business travel and events are being reshaped by four converging forces: the rise of new generations with different values and expectations, the shift of sustainability from a “nice to have” to a strategic licence to operate, the need to build digital trust in a hyperconnected world, and the rapid transition toward smarter, more integrated mobility.

These aren’t separate conversations anymore; their power lies in how they intersect. The organisations that succeed in the coming decade will be the ones that can align innovation with responsibility, and technology with trust.

Of the four forces, digital trust is having the greatest impact right now. It sits at the centre of everything: next-generation booking platforms, multimodal travel, sustainability transparency, and how Gen Z interacts with the world. As more open platforms emerge, digital confidence becomes the foundation on which responsible, seamless travel experiences are built.

On a recent panel in the Netherlands, Laura Bas (Gen Z expert, author and columnist) captured the pace of change brilliantly. She pointed out that practices many Baby Boomers still accept: emailing an agent, waiting for replies, piecing together ground transport, and claiming expenses separately – are, for Gen Z, not even remotely acceptable. The future generation simply won’t tolerate fragmented processes, slow communication, or low-tech experiences.

The next generation of business travellers

By 2030, more than half of all business travellers and event attendees will be Gen Z. They are emerging not only as travellers but as the decision-makers who will redefine corporate travel strategies.

Gen Z brings a fundamentally different mindset. They prioritise responsible choices such as rail over short-haul flights or economy over business class, and they place less importance on status points and loyalty tiers. They expect digital-first, personalised, transparent experiences, and care deeply about authenticity, flexibility, privacy, safety, and the planet.

Recent GBTA research reflects this clearly:

• 41% prioritise sustainability when booking hotels
• 79% prioritise an easy digital booking experience
• 61% look for tech-forward hotels
• 59% expect to increase business travel — more than any other generation

For Gen Z, corporate travel is not merely functional. It is a gateway to personal growth, career development, cultural exploration, and “bleisure” – the blend of business and leisure that shapes their wellbeing and motivation.

We’re already seeing travel managers adapt. Many are embracing flexible working, enabling trip extensions, and choosing tech-forward hotels in locations that offer better local experiences. The struggle often lies with senior leadership, who may misinterpret these expectations as a lack of commitment. In reality, the opposite is true: when Gen Z feels trusted to combine professional purpose with meaningful experience, their engagement and motivation rise sharply.

My recommendation to organisations is simple: embrace it – don’t fight it. This shift isn’t going away.

Sustainability: from promise to proof

Sustainability has moved from a trend to a licence to operate. It must be embedded directly into travel programmes – not treated as a standalone topic. At ITM London, it was made clear that sustainability should not be a conversation held on the side; it should be one of multiple key factors (e.g. technology, service, Duty of Care) shaping the agenda, the policy, the choices, and ultimately the culture of corporate travel.

Organisations today are judged by what they do, not what they say. With CSRD, EcoVadis, CDP, B Corp and SBTi shaping disclosure expectations, sustainability performance is becoming measurable, public, and non-negotiable. Offsetting alone is no longer enough; business-as-usual emissions simply won’t stand up to scrutiny.

The true path forward is clear: reduce what you can, compensate only what is unavoidable, and use robust, accurate data as evidence of progress. Travel managers often know their organisation’s net-zero ambition, but far fewer understand how the travel and events programme fits into that journey. Data closes that gap – turning ambition into actionable strategy.

We see some standout examples. One client mandated rail for all travel between London and Paris, and other similarly connected intra-European city pairs, using CO₂ data to drive measurable modal shift. Others are encouraging employees to combine multiple work purposes into fewer, but longer, trips – reducing emissions while improving productivity.

This is where ATPI Halo provides real value. Our MEASURE–REDUCE–COMPENSATE framework gives organisations a practical, holistic roadmap. First, measure the emissions footprint of travel and events; then analyse the data, working with the TMC to identify short- and long-term reduction opportunities – from policy updates to SAF investment; and finally compensate unavoidable emissions through a portfolio of high-quality nature-based and social projects.

The data point travel managers respond to most strongly? ROI.
When they see that sustainable travel can reduce costs, improve traveller wellbeing, and strengthen corporate disclosure, they gain both influence and strategic relevance.

Mobility: the new definition of movement

“Mobility today is no longer about how fast we move, but how smart and sustainably we move.”

Travellers increasingly want seamless, end-to-end experiences – not fragmented journeys split across multiple apps, passwords, and platforms. When itineraries are scattered, traveller friction increases, and organisations lose cost visibility, emissions insight, and duty of care oversight.

The future is multimodal: a single ecosystem integrating air, rail, hotel, car hire, and ground transport. Platforms like Direct ATPI’s Avenir and Mobility iQ are already showing what this could look like – integrated content, real-time CO₂ visibility, nudges toward greener choices, and “one itinerary” that follows the traveller from start to finish.

True “one booking, one ticket, one carbon report” is getting closer. Many components exist today, but deeper integration and open-content platforms will be the turning point. Agility is key.

The innovation I’m most excited about is multi-modal capability within open platforms. This creates real opportunities for organisations to steer travellers toward more responsible choices, such as replacing domestic flights or long-distance car journeys with rail or prioritising increasingly electrified public transport options.

When asked which gap is most urgent to address – cost visibility, emissions, leakage, or duty of care – my answer is unequivocal: duty of care. If we look after the travelling workforce, they will in turn respond positively to responsible travel requirements and carbon budgets. With the right tools, they won’t need to book outside the programme, and everyone – the traveller, the travel manager, and the organisation – gains confidence, clarity, and control.

Trust and digital confidence

Gen Z’s desire for speed means they often share personal information too freely – clicking ‘accept’ without fully reading terms or understanding where their data is going. Ironically, this ease creates anxiety later.

This makes trust a design priority. If travellers want broader content, instant access, and endless choice, then platform creators must embed trust into the architecture from the outset – not bolt it on later. Trust-enhancing principles include transparency, privacy, and security built directly into the user experience.

Digital confidence is not a “feature”; it is the foundation of brand reputation, traveller wellbeing, and corporate risk management.

And yes – there is an undeniable link between sustainability transparency and digital transparency.

A call to be ready

The future of business travel and events isn’t just about movement – it’s about meaning.
If we can align innovation with sustainability, and technology with trust, we’ll build a travel ecosystem ready for the next generation.

The future traveller isn’t coming, they’re already here.
The question for organisations now is simple:

Are you ready for them?

My advice: be open-minded and embrace it.