Business Travel Had Been Going Strong. Can it Shake Off Recent Weakness?

Business travel surged early in 2025, says data from the two largest travel management startups, Navan and Travelperk. Yet April was off to a weak start.

Business travel showed double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2025, and forward bookings remain strong despite a drop in early April, according to booking data shared with Skift by two leading travel management platforms.

For the three months through March, corporate flight reservations surged 13% year-over-year and hotel bookings rose 9%, according to Navan. March alone was particularly strong, with both flight and hotel bookings jumping 19% compared to the same month a year earlier.

However, in April so far, both flight and hotel bookings through Navan were down 9% from the same period last year.

Still, it's unclear if the recent weakness will persist. "It's too early to draw conclusions. Companies could have simply front-loaded a portio