Leisure travel to the US is down this 12 months, but business travel to the country stays stable, in line with a report from SAP Concur.
The US was the highest destination for global business travelers in the primary half of 2025, in line with the report.
Some 15% of all business air travel bookings were to destinations within the U.S., it showed. That is twice the variety of business bookings to Germany (7.7%) and United Kingdom (7.6%), which ranked second and third, respectively, within the report.
Business travel between Canada and the U.S. also held regular, with the U.S. accounting for nearly 80% of outbound business trips made by Canadians, in line with the information.
Despite crumbling relations between the 2 countries, international business booking volume rose barely (0.18%) in Canada in the primary half of 2025 from the identical period last 12 months, it showed.
The report showed the highest international destinations for business travelers in the primary half of 2025 were:
1.     U.S.
2.     Germany
3.     U.K.
4.     Canada
5.     France
6.     Spain
7.     Netherlands
8.     Mexico
9.     China
10. Italy
The report combined with data from BCD Travel and American Express Global Business Travel, as reported by Skift Friday, show that the negative travel sentiment rippling through Canada, Western Europe and a few parts of Asia is not affecting those with corporate interests in the US. Â
“Business travel to the U.S. appears to be business as usual,” said Charlie Sultan, president of Concur Travel at SAP Concur. “In the primary half of 2025, we saw a 1% increase in inbound business travel volume to the U.S. in comparison with the primary half of 2024.” Â
This slight increase is lower than the two.6% year-on-year rise in global business travel volume, which dropped from 4.5% in the primary quarter to 0.6% within the second quarter, the report showed. Nonetheless, the decline — which got here as Trump’s tariff policies continued to rile global economies — comports with normal seasonal travel patterns and is “not surprising,” in line with Concur’s report.
“In 2024, we actually began to see business travel come back. Domestic trips were up about 3%, and international trips grew nearly 6% globally,” Sultan told CNBC Travel. “With that type of momentum, we expected the trend to proceed into 2025. And up to now, that is what we’re seeing.”
A drop in outbound U.S. business travel
Nonetheless, while business travel to the U.S. may show few signs of slowing down, the identical can’t be said of outbound bookings by American business travelers.
International business travel from the U.S. dropped 2.3% 12 months on 12 months in the primary half of 2025, in line with the report.
The primary quarter saw a modest year-on-year drop of 1%, followed by a bigger 3.8% drop within the second quarter, it showed.
But again, that “is consistent with seasonal trends,” the report said.
In January, the U.S. Travel Association projected business travel can be “slower than other verticals” in 2025, with spending not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until after 2028.
Stabilizing airfares
International airfares for business travelers held regular in the primary half of 2025 despite rising demand, with tickets averaging around $1,682, in line with SAP Concur.
American business travelers paid essentially the most for international flights, with tickets averaging $2,675, compared with $1,950 in Japan and $719 in Italy, the information showed.
Airfares between U.S. and Canada also returned to 2024 levels this summer, in line with the report. Average fares fell to $997 in the primary quarter, before returning to $1,100 by June, it showed.
— CNBC’s Kaela Ling contributed to this report.
