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Global market research conducted by Corporate Travel Management in March 2025, surveying more than 700 Millennial and Gen Z employees, revealed optimism about the role of AI in business travel management. Both Millennial and Gen Z respondents expect AI to have a positive impact on travel booking and in-trip experiences.
CTM’s research conducted a sentiment check on Millennial and Gen Z business travellers in relation to artificial intelligence (AI).
• 41 per cent are excited about the use of AI in travel
• 31 per cent are concerned
Overall, Millennial and Gen Z respondents expect AI to have a positive impact on:
• Booking speed (65 per cent)
• Choice of travel products (61 per cent)
• Cost of travel products and services (60 per cent)
For a generation raised on tech, Gen Z surprisingly expressed equal excitement and concern relating to the use of AI in business travel (41 per cent each), compared to a more positive outlook amongst the slightly older Millennials where two-thirds (66 per cent) are excited about its potential and just 25 per cent are concerned.
“Millennial and Gen Z travellers are going to be our future business decision-makers, so they are not just influencing the future of business travel, they are defining it,” says CTM global chief technology officer Joel Bailey.
“Their clear preference for digital tools and confidence in the benefits of AI are shaping how we evolve our technology roadmap. We’re continuing to invest in proprietary AI to deliver faster, more personalised experiences and omni-channel service solutions that empower users to book and manage travel with the convenience of their chosen device, location and time.”
With 59 per cent of global respondents indicating they book all their own travel, the demand for intuitive, self-service technology that enables anytime, anywhere access is accelerating. CTM’s proprietary virtual travel assistant, Scout, is meeting this need by allowing travellers to search, book and manage their travel within policy across devices, while supporting organisations’ duty of care and program objectives.
More than 90 per cent of CTM’s customers are experiencing faster service response times as a result, with post-interaction survey satisfaction exceeding 85 per cent.
Booking tool preferences – present and future
Respondents were asked about their current and preferred business travel booking tools. The research highlighted website/online booking tools (71 per cent) and mobile app (52 per cent) as the top two most popular booking channel choices among Millennial and Gen Z travellers today, reflecting preferences for user-friendly, accessible booking solutions.
While websites/online booking tools are expected to remain in pole position for booking travel in the coming two years, their usage is expected to drop by 3 per cent (68 per cent). Notably, the preference for using mobile apps in the coming two years increases by 6 per cent (58 per cent). Asia (Singapore and Hong Kong) was the only region to prioritise mobile apps as its preferred booking channel over all other tools (66 per cent) in the coming two years.
