Travel managers are absorbing meetings work faster than companies are adding headcount to handle it, a shift that is reshaping how corporate travel budgets are run and who controls procurement decisions. The change matters because it concentrates more spend, more data and more bargaining power inside leaner travel teams just as finance departments demand clearer proof of return on investment.
Travel managers take on meetings work
A new Global Business Travel Association study with Cvent, based on a survey of 270 travel managers in North America and Europe, found 39% say travel and meetings are now more integrated than before, versus 7% who say they are less integrated. More than half of travel programs are already involved in meetings management, and 57% help with meetings sourcing. Nearly a quarter, 23%, say travel and meetings are fully consolidated under one team.
Sentiment Indicators
The economic logic is straightforward: companies want more leverage over hotel spend, better data visibility and tighter control of group bookings. Eighty-two percent of respondents said closer integration would benefit their organizations at least a little, and 64% expect a meaningful benefit. The most-cited gains were consolidated travel and meetings data, at 76%, and greater savings and discounts, at 74%.
That makes the trend relevant for hotel chains, corporate travel platforms and meetings technology providers, which stand to gain from a single workflow for transient and group business. Spotnana’s acquisition of TROOP in August was an early sign of where the market is heading, with suppliers trying to connect booking, sourcing and meeting logistics into one system.
For investors, the opportunity is less about a sudden earnings catalyst than about where enterprise spending is moving. Vendors that can unify travel and meetings workflows may win more budget and pricing power, while fragmented tools and standalone service providers risk losing relevance if buyers keep consolidating procurement.
The catch is staffing. Sixty-two percent of travel managers say their programs are understaffed, rising to 68% at organizations spending $30 million or more a year on travel. The average program has 4.9 full-time employees focused mainly on travel, and the median has just three, with 45% saying most of their staff are generalists.
That shortage creates a mismatch: travel teams are being asked to manage meetings because they can centralize data and negotiate rates, but many are not built to judge meeting design, attendee experience or whether an event actually delivers commercial results. That leaves planners with an opening if they can prove outcomes rather than just cost savings.
The bigger story is that the wall between travel and meetings is coming down because procurement wants scale, not because organizations have solved the operating model. The next test is whether companies add expertise and technology fast enough to match the expanding mandate, or whether lean travel teams become the bottleneck in a business function that is becoming more strategic by the quarter.
| Entity | Gains | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| Travel management teams | ▲More control over spend | ▼Heavier workloads |
| Meetings planners | ▲Chance to prove ROI | ▼Less budget authority |
| Hotels and travel platforms | ▲Larger consolidated deals | ▼More pricing pressure |
| Companies/finance teams | ▲Better data and savings | ▼Operational complexity |
