Slamming on business: businesses saved on business trips in 2025
Russian companies have reduced the number of business trips and reduced spending on them this year, Izvestia has learned. The growth rate of the business travel market in terms of the number of trips decreased 7.5 times, to 2% in 2025, according to the Union of Business Tourism Agencies (SAD). Experts attribute this trend to an increase in bankruptcies and business liquidations, as well as the general optimization of travel expenses against the background of declining financial performance of companies. Whether the trend towards optimizing such expenses will continue and which industries remain the most active business travelers is discussed in the Izvestia article.
How business trips have decreased
In 2025, Russian business reduced business trip activity and its costs, business representatives told Izvestia. The growth rate in the number of business trips this year was only 2% compared to 15% in 2024, Dmitry Gorin, Chairman of the Board of the Union of Business Tourism Agencies (SAD), confirmed. The number of travel bookings in 2025 remained at the level of last year, a Trivio representative agreed. According to him, some large companies have shown a decrease in business trips this year. The largest drop is in the representative offices of international companies, he said. The number of trips to Moscow decreased by 15%, to St. Petersburg - by 22%, Yekaterinburg — by 11%, Kazan — by 7%, follows from the data of the Aero Club.
The share of companies planning to reduce the volume of business trips by 20% or more almost doubled in 2025 compared to 2024 - now there are about 45% of such organizations, according to a Deloitte survey among 1,100 top managers worldwide. Companies are reviewing travel standards — reducing the number of trips, extending planned visits to reduce the frequency of flights.
Business has reduced the number of flights by 8% this year, and the duration of business trips has increased year-on-year by one day, to five days, according to data from the Aero Club. This is due to a reduction in the companies' budget for travel policy, a top manager of a large petrochemical company told Izvestia. According to him, companies are increasingly paying attention to which meetings really require personal presence, and where you can do without traveling. In a difficult economic situation, such costs are being reduced, a source at a large metallurgical company confirmed to Izvestia.
— We strive to save money. There are no frills, only the most necessary," a representative of Rostec State Corporation confirmed the trend to Izvestia.
Also in 2025, an increase in the number of bankruptcies and liquidations of enterprises, especially among small businesses, led to a decrease in business travel activities, said Stepan Mastryukov, head of the OneTwoTrip for Business service. In January–June, the number of companies liquidated in Russia was 1.5 times higher than the number of newly opened ones, Izvestia reported in August.
Why companies optimize costs
Optimization of travel expenses is being reinforced by general inflation and rising prices for flights and accommodation, a source at a major Russian bank told Izvestia. The average cost of a flight in the structure of the travel management company (TMC) was 20.8 thousand rubles (+20% year-on-year), and the average cost of a night in a hotel increased by 6% over the same period, to 5.3 thousand, according to Trivio data.
The limit on paying for hotels is slightly more than 6 thousand rubles per day, when the real cost of hotels is often much higher, said a source of Izvestia in one of the state-owned companies. According to him, it can be impossible to find a normal room for this money. The cost of services is increasing, but organizations are trying to reduce the average business trip bill by looking for cheaper service options, a Trivio representative said. According to him, business is increasingly replacing flights with trips by rail or even several modes of transport in order to reduce the average bill.
At the same time, the average cost of a business trip (the cost of a flight and a hotel) to other countries in 2025 for Russian companies was 84 thousand rubles, which is 4% less than a year earlier, according to OneTwoTrip for Business. The decrease in the average check is due to the strengthening of the ruble against foreign currencies, according to Dmitry Gorin from SAD. According to him, this indicator has increased by an average of 23% over the year.
Representatives of the oil and gas industry and energy remain the most active business travelers: their share in the total travel structure was 18% (17% in 2024), while the volume of trips decreased by 3%, according to data from the Aero Club. Retail has reduced the number of business trips this year by 20%, and its share has decreased by 3 percentage points, to 14%, the company estimates.
Representatives of Severstal, Rusal, Rostelecom and X5 declined to comment. Izvestia also sent inquiries to Sber, Rosatom, Rosselkhoznadzor, Sovcombank, Mechel, Rosneft, Novatek, Norilsk Nickel, Sibur, Polyus, Yuzhuralzoloto (YUGK), Alrosa, Miratorg.
Optimizing business trips is a continuation of the current economic situation, says Yulia Lipatova, Managing Director of the Aero Club. According to her, business trip activity is an indicator of the state of the economy. Companies continue to actively work, look for partners and build business processes, but after a period of rapid growth in recent years, the market is "reaching a plateau," she explains. In these circumstances, businesses are looking for a balance between cost control, effective travel and attention to the conditions in which employees work, the expert added.
The trend towards optimizing such costs will continue in 2026, Stepan Mastryukov believes. We are not talking about a massive refusal to travel, but rather about further consolidation of tasks within a single business trip, an increased role of planning and a "more targeted approach" to choosing a class of service depending on the purpose of the trip, Yulia Lipatova added.
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