Global business travel spending is forecast to reach a record $1.71 trillion in 2026, up 7.2%, while the number of trips grows only 1.3% (GBTA, Business Travel Index 2026). That gap is the story of the company offsite in 2026: teams are still gathering, but every flight, room and dinner costs more. US airline fares rose 23.4% in the year to August 2026 (BLS, Consumer Price Index), and 52% of remote-capable US employees now work hybrid while 26% are fully remote (Gallup, May 2026), which makes the planned retreat one of the few times many teams share a room. For the daily side of distributed collaboration, see our video meeting fatigue statistics. We aggregated data from the Global Business Travel Association, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, SAP Concur, Navan’s investor filings, Cvent, Gallup, Owl Labs, NBER and peer-reviewed studies in Nature and Nature Human Behaviour.
TL;DR
- Global business travel spend: $1.59 trillion in 2025, forecast $1.71 trillion in 2026 (GBTA, Business Travel Index 2026).
- US business travel spending was $538.5 billion across 487.8 million trips in 2024 (GBTA, US Economic Impact Study 2026).
- US airline fares rose 23.4% and lodging away from home 3.2% in the 12 months to August 2026 (BLS, CPI August 2026).
- Internal offsites averaged $638 per employee per day in 2024, excluding airfare (BoomPop booking data, 2024).
- 57% of North American travel buyers expecting more travel cite internal team collaboration as a driver (GBTA Outlook Poll, September 2026).
- 70% of event professionals predicted more in-person events for 2026; 95% expected meetings spend to rise (Cvent, Top Meeting Destinations 2026).
- 64% of travel buyers say groups and meetings are harder to manage than individual travel (GBTA Convention 2026 Buyer Buzz).
- 52% of remote-capable US employees are hybrid, 26% fully remote, 22% on-site (Gallup, May 2026).
- 25% of fully remote workers felt lonely a lot of the previous day vs 16% of on-site workers (Gallup Panel, 2024).
- Firm-wide remote work made the collaboration network of 61,182 Microsoft employees more static and siloed (Yang et al., Nature Human Behaviour 2022).
- 82% of CFOs plan to increase travel budgets, but 89% want better ROI justification (SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey 2026).
- Navan bought offsite platform BoomPop in September 2026; BoomPop had supported events for about 250,000 people (Navan, 2026).
1. The Spending Backdrop: Business Travel at Record Highs
Offsites ride on the same airline seats, hotel rooms and expense systems as every other business trip, so the macro travel budget sets the ceiling. Spending is rising five times faster than trip volume: +7.2% in dollars against +1.3% in trips for 2026 (GBTA, 2026 Business Travel Index). GBTA attributes the gap mainly to elevated transportation costs. For companies, that means a retreat budget frozen at 2025 levels buys fewer attendee-days in 2026.
The United States remains the largest market, at $423.0 billion of forecast 2026 spend, narrowly ahead of China at $403.7 billion. GBTA’s separate US study, produced with Rockport Analytics, puts 2024 domestic business travel at $538.5 billion across 487.8 million trips, supporting 6.7 million jobs (GBTA, US Economic Impact Study 2026). The two US figures use different scopes and years, so they should not be compared directly.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global business travel spend, 2025 | $1.59 trillion (+8.4%), 1.82 billion trips | GBTA, Business Travel Index 2026 |
| Global business travel spend, 2026 forecast | $1.71 trillion (+7.2%), 1.84 billion trips (+1.3%) | GBTA, Business Travel Index 2026 |
| Global spend projection, 2030 | Surpasses $2 trillion | GBTA, Business Travel Index 2026 |
| Largest markets, 2026 | US $423.0 billion; China $403.7 billion | GBTA, Business Travel Index 2026 |
| Top 15 markets’ share of global spend | $1.43 trillion (84%) | GBTA, Business Travel Index 2026 |
| Fastest-growing top-15 markets, 2026 | Brazil 13.8%, Australia 11.5%, South Korea 11.3% | GBTA, Business Travel Index 2026 |
| US business travel spending, 2024 | $538.5 billion; 487.8 million trips | GBTA and Rockport Analytics, US Economic Impact Study 2026 |
| US jobs and GDP linked to business travel, 2024 | 6.7 million jobs; 2.1% of GDP | GBTA and Rockport Analytics, US Economic Impact Study 2026 |
Context note: GBTA’s traveler survey behind the index covered 4,700 business travelers in 66 markets in May 2026; 74% said they traveled as much or more than the previous year, and 65% use a managed travel program. GBTA does not report internal meetings or offsites as a separate spend category.
2. Meetings Demand: Planners Expect More In-Person Gatherings
Demand signals for group gatherings are positive but measured. In North America, 57% of travel buyers who expect travel to grow cite internal team collaboration as a driver, nearly level with customer meetings at 58% (GBTA, Business Travel Outlook Poll, September 2026). Internal gatherings, not just sales trips, are now a recognized reason to travel. Yet only 31% of buyers expect meetings that require travel to increase in 2026, and 49% expect no change, which points to a stable rather than booming offsite calendar.
Event platforms see stronger enthusiasm. Cvent tracked more than $20 billion in global sourcing and RFP activity in 2025, a record, and reports that 70% of event professionals predicted more in-person events for 2026 (Cvent, Top Meeting Destinations Worldwide 2026). The logistics are the pain point: 64% of buyers at GBTA’s 2026 convention said groups and meetings are harder to manage than individual trips (GBTA, Buyer Buzz 2026).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Buyers expecting meetings requiring travel to increase, 2026 | 31% (49% no change) | GBTA Outlook Poll, September 2026 (604 respondents) |
| North American drivers of travel growth | Customer meetings 58%, internal team collaboration 57%, business growth 53% | GBTA Outlook Poll, September 2026 |
| Buyers expecting travel spending to increase, 2026 | 56% (up from 43%) | GBTA Outlook Poll, September 2026 |
| Industry optimism, next 12 months | 63% (up from 41% in April 2026) | GBTA Outlook Poll, September 2026 |
| Event professionals predicting more in-person events, 2026 | 70%; 95% expect meetings spend to rise | Cvent, Top Meeting Destinations 2026 |
| Sourcing and RFP activity tracked, 2025 | More than $20 billion, 14,000+ cities | Cvent, Top Meeting Destinations 2026 |
| Top North American meeting destinations, 2025 data | Orlando, Las Vegas, Nashville, Chicago, Dallas | Cvent, Top Meeting Destinations 2026 |
| Buyers saying groups and meetings are harder than transient travel | 64% | GBTA Convention 2026 Buyer Buzz (470+ buyers) |
Context note: Cvent’s rankings are based on room nights, RFPs and awarded value on its own supplier network, so they describe where Cvent users source meetings, not the whole market. In Cvent’s separate survey of nearly 1,000 marketers and event professionals (July 2026), 98% said in-person and community events remain central to their strategy, a figure that covers external marketing events rather than internal retreats.
3. What a Retreat Costs: Airfare, Hotels and Per-Head Budgets
Price inflation is the biggest structural headwind for offsites. The US consumer price index for airline fares rose 23.4% in the 12 months to August 2026, nearly seven times the 3.4% rise in all items (BLS, CPI Table 2, August 2026). Lodging away from home rose 3.2% and food away from home 3.4%, so the flight is now the line item most likely to break a retreat budget.
Corporate expense data show the same direction with smaller numbers. SAP Concur’s global booking and expense data for January to May 2026 found airfare up more than 8% and hotel rates up nearly 6%, while air and hotel bookings stayed roughly flat (SAP Concur, June 2026). On a per-head basis, BoomPop’s booking data put internal offsites at $638 per employee per day in 2024, excluding airfare, about $1,915 per person for a three-day event before travel (BoomPop, 2024 offsite data).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US airline fares, 12-month change to August 2026 | +23.4% | BLS, CPI August 2026 |
| US lodging away from home, 12-month change | +3.2% (other lodging incl. hotels and motels +2.9%) | BLS, CPI August 2026 |
| US food away from home, 12-month change | +3.4% (all items +3.4%) | BLS, CPI August 2026 |
| Global corporate airfare and hotel rates, Jan to May 2026 | Airfare more than +8%; hotel rates nearly +6%; car rental about +5% | SAP Concur expense and booking data, 2026 |
| Forecast global blended airfare | +4.7% in 2026; +1.5% in 2027 | GBTA and ALTOUR, 2027 Global Business Travel Forecast |
| Forecast global hotel average daily rate | +3.7% in 2026; +1.8% in 2027 | GBTA and ALTOUR, 2027 Global Business Travel Forecast |
| Average internal offsite cost per employee per day, 2024 | $638 excluding airfare (about $1,915 for three days) | BoomPop booking data, 2024 |
| Organizations that increased offsite budgets since 2019 | 59% | BoomPop booking data, 2024 |
Context note: GBTA’s 2027 forecast says meetings and events budgets will keep rising, driven by food and beverage, production and labor costs (GBTA, 2027 Global Business Travel Forecast). Tax treatment also shapes spend: IRS Publication 463 (2025) states that business meals are generally only 50% deductible and entertainment is generally not deductible, with an exception listed for recreational expenses for employees (IRS, Publication 463).
4. The Distributed Workforce That Needs a Gathering
Offsites exist because the default workplace no longer brings everyone together. 78% of US remote-capable employees now work hybrid or fully remote: 52% hybrid and 26% exclusively remote, against 22% on-site (Gallup, Indicator: Hybrid Work, May 2026). Preferences run further: in November 2025, 33% wanted to be fully remote and only 6% wanted to be on-site. A company where a quarter of desk staff never commute cannot rely on hallway contact for culture.
Across the whole workforce, including jobs that cannot be done remotely, the picture is more office-heavy. Owl Labs’ 2025 survey of 2,000 US full-time workers found 63% in-office, 28% hybrid and 9% remote, and hybrid workers spend about $55 a day when they go in versus $18 when they stay home (Owl Labs, State of Hybrid Work 2025). That daily cost is part of why companies concentrate in-person time into planned events instead of mandating random office days.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US remote-capable employees by arrangement, May 2026 | Hybrid 52%, exclusively remote 26%, on-site 22% | Gallup, Indicator: Hybrid Work 2026 |
| Preferred arrangement, November 2025 | Hybrid 61%, exclusively remote 33%, on-site 6% | Gallup, Indicator: Hybrid Work 2026 |
| Engaged employees by arrangement, May 2026 | Remote 37%, hybrid 34%, on-site remote-capable 29% | Gallup, Indicator: Hybrid Work 2026 |
| All US full-time workers by arrangement, July 2025 | In-office 63%, hybrid 28%, remote 9% | Owl Labs, State of Hybrid Work 2025 |
| Daily spending, hybrid worker in office vs remote | $55 vs $18 | Owl Labs, State of Hybrid Work 2025 |
| Workers who say meeting new people works best at the office | 55% (mentoring 51%, team meetings 49%) | Owl Labs, State of Hybrid Work 2024 |
| Managers saying hybrid or remote work made their team more productive | 69% | Owl Labs, State of Hybrid Work 2025 |
Context note: Gallup’s figures cover only remote-capable employees, while Owl Labs samples all full-time workers, which explains most of the gap. Gallup also reports that only 11% of employees (May 2025) had collaborative input into their team’s hybrid policy.
5. The Connection Gap Offsites Try to Close
The case for paying for retreats rests on a measurable social cost of distance. Fully remote employees are more likely to report loneliness: 25% felt lonely a lot of the previous day, compared with 21% of hybrid and 16% of on-site workers (Gallup, Remote Workers Lonelier, 2024). That gap of 9 percentage points is what a few days together each year is meant to narrow.
Earlier survey work points the same way. In Microsoft’s 2022 Work Trend Index of 31,102 workers in 31 markets, 59% of hybrid employees reported fewer work friendships since going hybrid or remote, and 43% of leaders called relationship-building the greatest challenge of remote and hybrid work (Microsoft, Work Trend Index 2022). Among Buffer’s remote workers who felt connected to colleagues, 46% cited having met in person as a reason (Buffer, State of Remote Work 2023). For the asynchronous tools teams use between gatherings, see our asynchronous video messaging statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lonely a lot of the previous day, by arrangement | Fully remote 25%, hybrid 21%, on-site 16% | Gallup Panel, February 2024 (19,846 workers) |
| Hybrid employees with fewer work friendships | 59% | Microsoft, Work Trend Index 2022 |
| Hybrid employees feeling lonelier at work than before | 55% | Microsoft, Work Trend Index 2022 |
| Leaders naming relationship-building the top hybrid challenge | 43% | Microsoft, Work Trend Index 2022 |
| Workers who find virtual coffee chats more of a chore than in-person | 66% | Microsoft, Work Trend Index 2022 |
| Connected remote workers citing ‘met in person’ as a reason | 46% | Buffer, State of Remote Work 2023 (3,000 workers) |
| Business travelers who value face-to-face time with colleagues or customers | 36% | SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey 2026 |
Context note: the Microsoft data date from January to February 2022 and the Buffer survey from late 2022 (most recent available data: Microsoft 2022, Buffer 2023). Both predate the 2024 to 2026 return-to-office wave, so they describe the high-water mark of remote isolation.
6. The Evidence on In-Person Time
Surveys show what workers feel; field studies show what changes. When Microsoft moved to firm-wide remote work in 2020, the collaboration networks of 61,182 employees became more static and siloed, with more asynchronous and less synchronous communication (Yang et al., Nature Human Behaviour 2022). The authors warn this can make it harder to share information across the network. Cross-group ties are exactly what company-wide retreats try to rebuild, which makes this the strongest argument for mixing teams at an offsite rather than running separate team events.
Other studies add specifics. In lab and field experiments in five countries, videoconferencing groups generated fewer creative ideas than in-person groups but were no worse at selecting which idea to pursue (Brucks and Levav, Nature 2022). Sitting near teammates raised coding feedback by 18.3% at a Fortune 500 firm, with gains concentrated among junior engineers (Emanuel, Harrington and Pallais, NBER Working Paper 31880). The practical reading: use the scarce in-person days for ideation and mentoring, and keep evaluation work remote.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Employees in Microsoft remote-work collaboration study | 61,182; networks became more static and siloed | Yang et al., Nature Human Behaviour 2022 |
| Effect of videoconferencing on idea generation | Fewer creative ideas; no disadvantage in idea selection (5 countries) | Brucks and Levav, Nature 2022 |
| Coding feedback from sitting near teammates | +18.3% | Emanuel, Harrington and Pallais, NBER w31880 (rev. 2026) |
| Quit rate change from hybrid schedule (2 days home) | Reduced by one-third; 1,612 employees, no effect on performance grades | Bloom, Han and Liang, Nature 2024 |
| Managers’ estimated productivity effect of hybrid, before vs after trial | -2.6% to +1.0% (395 managers) | Bloom, Han and Liang, Nature 2024 |
| Team-building meta-analysis on cohesion | 15 studies; strongest effects for interventions longer than two weeks | Kwon, Frontiers in Psychology 2024 |
Context note: the Bloom trial (Nature, 2024) shows hybrid work itself does not hurt performance, so the evidence supports periodic in-person time rather than full return to office. The Kwon meta-analysis covered sports teams, not companies, and found sustained programs outperform one-off events, a caution for single annual retreats.
7. Budget Scrutiny and the Platform Race
Money for gatherings exists, but finance wants proof. 82% of CFOs plan to increase travel budgets this year, yet 89% expect travel managers to better justify return on investment (SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey 2026). For offsites, which rarely produce a signed contract, that means defining outcomes such as decisions made or onboarding milestones before booking. GBTA’s poll shows 69% of buyers name rising travel costs as a top challenge and 29% internal approvals, and 32% of travel managers say their policy is stricter than three years ago versus 5% more lenient (GBTA, State of Corporate Travel Policies 2026).
Vendors are racing to capture the spend. Navan, which reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $702 million and $9.1 billion in gross booking volume, bought BoomPop in September 2026, saying the majority of meetings and events spend happens outside managed channels (Navan, BoomPop acquisition, 2026). Its Q2 fiscal 2027 gross booking volume grew 45% to $3.0 billion (Navan, Q2 FY2027 results). The tools teams rely on between gatherings are covered in our UCaaS seat adoption statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CFOs planning travel budget increases | 82% (97% say travel matters to growth) | SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey 2026 (700 CFOs) |
| CFOs expecting better ROI justification | 89% | SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey 2026 |
| Travel managers lacking adequate finance leadership backing | 84% | SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey 2026 (800 managers) |
| Buyers citing rising costs; internal approvals | 69%; 29% | GBTA Outlook Poll, September 2026 |
| Travel policies stricter vs more lenient than three years ago | 32% vs 5% | GBTA, State of Corporate Travel Policies 2026 (168 managers) |
| Navan fiscal 2026 revenue and gross booking volume | $702 million; $9.1 billion; 12,500+ customers | Navan Investor Relations, FY2026 |
| Navan Q2 FY2027 gross booking volume | $3.0 billion (+45%); revenue $233 million (+35%) | Navan, Q2 FY2027 results |
| BoomPop events supported before acquisition | About 250,000 people; average savings about 30% on event bookings | Navan, BoomPop acquisition release 2026 |
Context note: BoomPop’s savings figure and Navan’s market statements are company claims. Business travel for retreats also runs into roaming and connectivity costs abroad, covered in our carrier roaming revenue statistics.
Summary: Company Offsites and Team Retreats by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global business travel spend, 2026 forecast | $1.71 trillion (+7.2%) | GBTA, Business Travel Index 2026 |
| Global business trips, 2026 forecast | 1.84 billion (+1.3%) | GBTA, Business Travel Index 2026 |
| US business travel spending, 2024 | $538.5 billion | GBTA and Rockport Analytics, 2026 |
| US airline fares, 12 months to August 2026 | +23.4% | BLS, CPI August 2026 |
| US lodging away from home, 12 months to August 2026 | +3.2% | BLS, CPI August 2026 |
| Corporate airfare and hotel rates, Jan to May 2026 | More than +8%; nearly +6% | SAP Concur, 2026 |
| Offsite cost per employee per day, 2024 | $638 excluding airfare | BoomPop booking data, 2024 |
| North American buyers citing internal collaboration as travel driver | 57% | GBTA Outlook Poll, September 2026 |
| Buyers expecting more meetings requiring travel | 31% | GBTA Outlook Poll, September 2026 |
| Event professionals predicting more in-person events, 2026 | 70% | Cvent, 2026 |
| Buyers saying groups are harder than transient travel | 64% | GBTA Buyer Buzz 2026 |
| Remote-capable US employees hybrid or fully remote | 52% and 26% | Gallup, May 2026 |
| Loneliness, fully remote vs on-site | 25% vs 16% | Gallup Panel, 2024 |
| Hybrid employees with fewer work friendships | 59% | Microsoft, Work Trend Index 2022 |
| Microsoft employees in remote-collaboration study | 61,182 | Yang et al., Nature Human Behaviour 2022 |
| Coding feedback from proximity to teammates | +18.3% | NBER w31880 |
| Quit rate cut from hybrid schedule | One-third | Bloom et al., Nature 2024 |
| CFOs planning budget increases vs demanding ROI | 82% vs 89% | SAP Concur, 2026 |
| Navan gross booking volume, Q2 FY2027 | $3.0 billion (+45%) | Navan, 2026 |
Methodology and Sources
Every figure above was read during research for this article in a primary report, press release, government table, company investor page or peer-reviewed paper. No public dataset isolates internal offsite spending, so this roundup combines business travel totals, price indices, workforce arrangement data, research on in-person collaboration and company disclosures. Numbers circulating on listicle blogs without a primary document were excluded.
- Global Business Travel Association: Business Travel Index 2026 release (August 2026), US Economic Impact Study 2026, Business Travel Outlook Poll, September 2026, Buyer Buzz, GBTA Convention 2026, 2027 Global Business Travel Forecast with ALTOUR, State of Corporate Travel Policies 2026
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics: CPI Table 2, August 2026 and CPI news release (September 11, 2026)
- SAP Concur: Business Travel Holds Steady as Travel Costs Rise (June 2026) and Global Business Travel Survey 2026, Wakefield Research
- Navan: Investor Relations, BoomPop acquisition (September 9, 2026), Q2 FY2027 results
- BoomPop: Why do offsites fail despite high spending? (2024 booking data)
- Cvent: Top Meeting Destinations Worldwide 2026, marketer events research (July 2026)
- Gallup: Indicator: Hybrid Work, Remote Workers Lonelier (2024)
- Owl Labs: State of Hybrid Work 2025, State of Hybrid Work 2024
- Microsoft: Work Trend Index 2022, Great Expectations; Buffer: State of Remote Work 2023
- Research: Yang et al., Nature Human Behaviour 2022; Brucks and Levav, Nature 2022; Emanuel, Harrington and Pallais, NBER w31880; Bloom, Han and Liang, Nature 2024; Kwon, Frontiers in Psychology 2024 (DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1353944)
- IRS: Publication 463 (2025)
- Data watch: There is no independent public benchmark of offsite spending; the 638 dollars per day figure and the 59% budget-increase share come from BoomPop’s own booking data, published on its blog without a sample size, and BoomPop is now owned by Navan. Price sources conflict in scale: BLS shows US airline fares up 23.4% year over year to August 2026, SAP Concur’s global corporate data show airfare up more than 8% for January to May 2026, and GBTA and ALTOUR forecast global blended airfare up 4.7% for 2026; they differ in geography, period and method (consumer price index vs corporate bookings vs forecast). Hotel figures likewise range from 2.9% (BLS other lodging) to nearly 6% (SAP Concur). GBTA’s global total (1.71 trillion dollars for 2026) and its US Economic Impact Study (538.5 billion dollars for 2024) use different scopes and should not be combined. Gallup covers remote-capable employees while Owl Labs covers all full-time workers. Microsoft (2022) and Buffer (2023) data are the most recent available versions of those surveys. The Amex GBT 2026 Global Meetings and Events Forecast PDF was too large to read and Amex GBT newsroom pages returned 403 errors, so none of its figures are used; the US Travel Association research page was also blocked. Nature article pages required login, so abstracts were read via Europe PMC.
Last updated: October 3, 2026. We update this roundup quarterly, and the next refresh is expected when GBTA publishes its next Business Travel Outlook Poll and BLS releases the September 2026 CPI, along with the Amex GBT 2027 Global Meetings and Events Forecast.