Americans make more than 405 million long-distance business trips per year. This means about 1.1 million people are traveling for business every day in the U.S. The Big Apple – New York City – is the most common business travel destination, though the fastest growing business travel destination is Shanghai.

Global business travel has seen a massive resurgence and a full recovery following the pandemic. In 2025 and 2026, the number of international arrivals for all purposes reached a record 1.52 billion, with approximately 15% to 20% of those being for business. This means roughly 250 to 300 million international business trips are taken annually. If you include domestic business travel, the number is significantly higher, likely exceeding 1 billion trips globally. The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) forecasts that spending on business travel will reach $1.69 trillion in 2026, an 8% increase over 2025. Interestingly, the nature of these trips has changed; many are now longer in duration to accommodate "bleisure" (business + leisure) or "work from anywhere" models. Despite the rise of Zoom and virtual meetings, the data shows that the "human element" of face-to-face deal-making remains indispensable for global commerce, particularly in the tech and manufacturing sectors.