A GBTA–Visa study shows India’s business travel spending hit $37.2B in 2024 and is set to grow 15.5% in 2025. Travel volumes are rising, but program maturity still varies. Payment adoption remains uneven: 30% use no corporate travel payment tools, while 51% use corporate cards. Tech usage is strong, and India-based teams often manage both travel and payment decisions. The study highlights major opportunities to modernize processes and improve compliance.
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Visa27 November 2025 – A new benchmarking report from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and Visa outlines how Indian companies can strengthen their corporate travel frameworks as the country’s business travel sector continues its rapid ascent.
India remains one of the world’s fastest-growing business travel markets. Annual spending reached USD 37.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to surge by 15.5% in 2025—more than double the forecasted global growth rate of 6.6%. With this expansion, organizations face increasing pressure to modernize their travel management processes, payment systems and expense oversight to ensure stronger compliance and cost control.
The 2025 India Business Travel and Payments Study, released today, provides a detailed look at the maturity of travel programs and payment practices across Indian organizations. The report was launched during the inaugural GBTA India Business Travel Summit and presented by Ravi Sattavan of Visa Commercial Solutions, India.
Strong Growth but Opportunities to Mature
Nearly 70% of Indian travel buyers reported rising domestic (69%) and international (68%) business travel volumes. Despite this momentum, the study indicates that programs still have room to advance. While 77% rate their program maturity at seven or above on a 10-point scale, only 38% give it a nine or ten—highlighting significant opportunities for improvement.
GBTA APAC Regional Director Elle Ng-Darmawan noted that this first-ever India-focused study underscores India’s rapid rise in global business travel rankings. GBTA India Country Manager Jyothi Varma added that as spending grows, companies will need stronger mechanisms for tracking and managing travel expenditures, with GBTA committed to supporting this progress through research, education and industry collaboration.
Visa’s Sattavan emphasized that as travel expands, digital payment tools are becoming essential for efficiency, regulatory compliance and real-time expense visibility.
Key Findings
Inconsistent Adoption of Corporate Payment Tools
The study reveals misalignment between travel growth and payment modernization:
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30% of companies do not use any corporate payment method for travel within India.
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Among those that do:
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51% use corporate cards
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30% use Central Travel Accounts (CTAs)
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7% use virtual cards
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7% use prepaid cards
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Travel buyers cite limited issuance and gaps in merchant acceptance as primary reasons for non-compliance with payment policies.
When choosing payment solutions, the top considerations include acceptance breadth, fraud and misuse protection, global visibility into spending, and streamlined reimbursement processes.
Technology Adoption Gains Momentum
India’s shift from offline booking practices toward digital tools is well underway:
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76% use a self-service online booking engine
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91% use an expense management system
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63% use traveler-tracking or risk-management tools
Local Teams Increasingly Manage In-Country Travel
For multinational firms:
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55% say their India-based teams hold primary responsibility for managing local travel
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41% report shared responsibility between India teams and global offices
Travel and Payment Decisions Often Managed by the Same Teams
India-based staff frequently hold broad operational roles:
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72% say the same team handles both travel and payment product decisions
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42% say the travel team is the primary decision-maker for payments
Methodology
The findings are based on responses from 157 India-based corporate travel managers, collected digitally between September 22 and October 17, 2025. Participants included GBTA members, industry stakeholders and travel professionals engaged through GBTA’s India community.
GBTA members can access the full report through the GBTA Member Hub.
Source: GBTA
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