Domestic market continues to power India's corporate biz travel: Report

Domestic travel forms 72% of corporate trips, says a Thomas Cook India report, with key hubs driving demand, rising costs prompting controls and more firms adopting digital tools

Increased domestic travel activity is not just powering leisure tourism in the country, but also business travel, as almost 72 per cent of corporate travel continues to be domestic, a new report pointed out.

 

This growth is led by key business hubs such as Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune, stated the first Business Travel Report 2026, brought out by Thomas Cook (India) Limited.

 

“These cities remain critical for client meetings, internal reviews and project-based travel. On the international front, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Maldives, Dubai-Abu Dhabi, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, the USA, South Africa and Australia remain preferred destinations for leadership meetings, supplier engagements and strategic business expansion — with China and Japan emerging strongly on the radar,” it added.

 

 

According to the report, the business travel environment in the country remains resilient, with nearly 65 per cent of corporate houses expecting their business travel volumes to increase over the next one year, while 30 per cent expect it to remain stable.

 

A majority “of respondents are projecting stable-to-growth spend, underlining travel’s continued role in driving growth, client engagement and business continuity. Client meetings, sales-related travel and internal business-critical movement continue to dominate business travel demand,” the report stated.

 

Corporate houses are also increasingly using technology to back decision-making.

 

“More than 70 per cent of corporates are increasing their reliance on digital tools for booking, approvals, expense management and MIS reporting, enabling improved visibility, policy compliance and data-backed decision-making across business travel programmes,” the report added.

 

Honchos are also now amalgamating business travel with leisure, as 68 per cent of corporates report that employees are increasingly extending business trips to include personal leisure time.

 

“This growing shift is prompting organisations to reassess travel policies, clarify cost-sharing norms and offer greater flexibility to support work-plus-leisure travel,” it said.

 

However, rising costs continue to throw spanners, leading to sharper controls.

 

As many as 80 per cent of respondents reported an increase in Average Ticket Prices (ATP) over the past year — with over 36 per cent witnessing a significant rise of more than 15 per cent, and 45 per cent reporting a moderate increase of 5–15 per cent — highlighting tighter controls, advance booking mandates and closer monitoring of travel spends.