Business Travel Growth Forecast
Business Travel Growth Forecast: what impact for events?
Almost half of corporates to spend more on business travel in FY26, is the forecast by FCM Travel. Excellent news if you’re in the business of travel, and for that matter, probably if you’re in the business of meetings and events.
It indicates more opportunities for face-to-face engagement, collaboration, and the overall growth of the events sector. However, it also raises questions about sustainability, as increased travel is traditionally associated (read, absolutely associated) with higher carbon emissions, hence event carbon footprints.
How does this square with oft-quoted event planning agencies promising reduced environmental impacts?
This is exactly where event:decision Impact: Responsible Event Reviews are crucial. Impact Reviews help ensure that even as volumes of events and travel increase, sustainability is embedded and demonstrable.
How you show your events are responsible:
- Measure Beyond Carbon
Impact Reviews assess events across environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, not just carbon emissions. This includes venue sustainability, catering choices, accessibility, certifications, waste reduction, supply chain responsibility and event legacy. Balancing travel impacts with positive social and governance measures.
- Benchmarking & Improvement
Each event is benchmarked against industry performance and previous events. You can demonstrate year-on-year improvement, even if travel volumes rise, by showing better destination & venue sourcing, reduced waste, increased local supply and stronger community benefits.
You can benchmark by region, by industry sector and/or by event-type also.
- Offsetting & Mitigation
event:decision tools highlight opportunities for carbon reduction and offsetting, such as virtual attendance options, low-carbon menu choices, and more sustainable transport alternatives. In fact, only with event:decision’s Track Carbon service do you receive a curated low-carbon door-to-door travel plan, specifically for your event.
This ensures travel impact is acknowledged but managed in line with best practice.
- Transparency & Reporting
An Impact: Responsible Event Review provides a clear, third-party validated framework that you can use in sustainability reporting. This helps counterbalance any criticism that “more travel = less sustainable,” by showing that events are planned responsibly, transparently, and within ESG frameworks.
The big picture
Even as corporate travel spend rises, responsible event design can ensure that events are still responsible & sustainable. The key is to show stakeholders — through Impact: Responsible Event Reviews — that the event is measured, benchmarked, and actively improved, time after time.











