Italian Business Travel: 2025 Trends & 2026 Outlook | Roundtrip Data
Business travel is firmly re-establishing itself as a strategic asset for Italian companies. Data released by Roundtrip, an integrated travel management platform developed by Emerging Travel Group, indicates that in 2025, businesses significantly invested in employee mobility, bringing travel volumes to or exceeding pre-2019 levels.
Italy: Short Trips and a Focus on Major Cities
Domestic bookings accounted for the majority of overall volume in 2025. Milan, Rome, and Rimini were the most in-demand destinations, confirming the central role of major cities and trade fair/congress centers. This trend suggests a focus on quick, efficient trips to key economic hubs.
The average length of stay was two nights, with an average daily rate of €135. This data highlights optimized travel management, geared towards maximizing the effectiveness of meetings while containing travel time and expense. Companies are clearly prioritizing focused engagements over extended trips.
The outlook for 2026 remains stable, with Rome and Milan continuing to lead as preferred destinations. Bologna is emerging as a key location, strengthening its position as a hub for events, trade fairs, and industry appointments. This suggests a broadening of the geographic focus for Italian business travel, with a growing recognition of regional centers.
International Travel: Germany and the UK Lead, US for Longer Stays
Internationally, in 2025, the most popular destinations for Italian business travelers were Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Spain. Average stays in these markets were three nights, with an average daily rate of €143. This indicates a willingness to invest in international connections, but with a continued emphasis on cost-effectiveness.
The United States stands out for longer stays, particularly in cities like Los Angeles and New York, where trips can last up to seven nights with an average expenditure of €178 per night. Germany, conversely, recorded the highest average rates at €249, with Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, and Berlin among the most sought-after destinations. The disparity highlights the differing costs and purposes of travel to these regions – longer, potentially more strategic engagements in the US versus shorter, focused trips to Germany.
Projections for 2026 confirm the same international preferences, signaling stability in the economic and commercial direction of Italian companies. This consistency provides a degree of predictability for travel planning and budgeting.
Structural Recovery and Growth Prospects
“The business travel sector has experienced a recovery, and many companies have prioritized in-person meetings, traveling as much as they did before 2019, or even more,” comments Sergiu Les, Managing Director of Roundtrip. “The GBTA report confirms that European business travel spending could reach $448 billion in 2026, breaking a new industry record. The majority of those traveling for work continue to view trips as important for building and developing relationships.”
Les further emphasizes Italy’s strategic position as a hub for business travel, thanks to the presence of major international events – from fashion weeks to trade fairs dedicated to food, hospitality, design, and manufacturing, to energy summits and major sporting events – which serve as platforms for networking and economic development. Italy’s diverse event landscape is a key driver of inbound and outbound business travel.
Despite reports of potentially more complex entry requirements for the United States, interest in the American market remains high. This suggests that Italian companies continue to view the US as a crucial market for investment and partnership, despite potential logistical hurdles.
Experts predict growth in the business travel market of up to 8.2% in 2026. The need for flexible and integrated solutions for travel management is becoming increasingly apparent. Roundtrip offers companies a catalog of 2.9 million hotels, flights from 450 airlines, transfers in 160 countries, car rentals, and train tickets, with dedicated tools for managing travel policies, cost centers, and payments. The company is positioning itself to capitalize on the anticipated growth by providing comprehensive travel solutions.
The evolution of business travel is therefore moving towards an increasingly structured, technological, and integrated model, where travel once again becomes a strategic investment for growth and the consolidation of international relationships. The emphasis is shifting from simply getting from point A to point B, to leveraging travel as a tool for building lasting business connections and driving economic opportunity.