Elle Ng-Darmawan is Senior Director, APAC Region, for the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)
2026 is shaping up to be another changing and dynamic year for the global business travel sector, but APAC is moving forward with a characteristic mix of pragmatism and resilience, as GBTA’s Elle Ng-Darmawan explains.
Asia Pacific’s business travel sector entered 2026 with a sense of cautious optimism, as travel volumes look set to climb, despite ongoing uncertainty.
At first glance, this confidence may seem counter‑intuitive given the unpredictable economic and geopolitical climate. Yet business travel professionals, both here in Asia Pacific (APAC) and around the world, remain measured but hopeful about 2026. Many expect their corporate travel budgets to hold steady—or even increase—while forecasting modest growth in trip volumes and revenue.
This is according to sentiments reflected in GBTA’s global poll of corporate travel managers, suppliers and intermediaries which we kicked off in January to understand the outlook for the year ahead including what’s keeping industry professionals awake at night. Their insights shine a light on the priorities—and pressures—shaping business travel today, in APAC and globally.
APAC: pushing ahead despite uncertainty
Travel managers across APAC are weathering the current uncertainty with cautious optimism. In fact, more than half (56%) of those we polled expressed optimism about the industry’s prospects for 2026. While this reflects a slim majority—and marks a seven‑point drop from the sentiment we saw entering 2025— it aligns with what we're seeing in other markets around the world. Business travel confidence amongst APAC professionals is, in fact, slightly more buoyant than in North America, where tariff pressures and shifting policies have dampened confidence more significantly.
There are also encouraging signs for sector growth. Forty two percent of APAC travel managers expect the number of travelers in managed programs to increase in 2026, while over two-thirds (77%) anticipate that their operational travel budgets will either hold steady or expand.
From budgets to borders: the big challenges for APAC business travel
While the mood remains broadly optimistic in APAC, there are plenty of challenges keeping travel managers awake at night. When we asked about the pressures shaping their programs this year, several themes emerged clearly. Their top concerns reflect the delicate balancing act between financial discipline, traveler experience, and evolving expectations from leadership.
The biggest issues voiced by APAC business travel professionals include:
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- Prices rising faster than budgets (50%), with cost inflation continuing to outpace allocated travel spend, creating pressure to do more with less;
- Pressure to use AI to reduce costs (45%), an issue that ranked noticeably higher in APAC than in North America, highlighting the region’s faster adoption curve and rising expectations around automation;
- Keeping up with changing border rules (39%), with visa and border friction is becoming a structural threat to business travel;
- Balancing strict cost controls with traveler satisfaction (45%); and,
- Proving the value of travel to leadership (35%), with travel managers increasingly expected to demonstrate ROI and strategic impact as budgets come under scrutiny.
Together, these concerns paint a picture of an industry working hard to keep travel programs efficient, competitive, and future‑ready—despite tightening budgets and an increasingly complex operating environment.
A picture of pragmatism and resilience in APAC
Despite an uncertain horizon, the APAC business travel community is pressing ahead with clear determination. The optimism we see in the region - the world’s largest for business travel spending - is grounded for the moment in reality: stable or expanding budgets, anticipated growth in traveler numbers, and a strategic appetite for innovation, particularly around AI.
The challenges are real—but so too is the momentum we’re seeing. With careful planning, thoughtful investment, and an unwavering commitment to enabling productive, sustainable and safe travel, APAC’s business travel ecosystem is well‑positioned not just to weather 2026, but to shape it.
