Martina Eggler Featured in fvw | TravelTalk
Martina Eggler, Senior Vice President at Areka, was recently featured in fvw | TravelTalk 1–2/2026 in an article examining how business travel is evolving amid budget pressure, AI acceleration, and market consolidation.
In the piece, Martina highlights:
- The growing involvement of top management in business mobility decisions
- The expanding role of AI in planning and disruption management
- The continued importance of trusted human advisors in uncertain times
- The strategic implications of TMC consolidation and platform integration
- The embedded role of sustainability in travel sourcing decisions
Her comments reflect how business travel is increasingly being approached as a strategic and digitally enabled function, with greater executive visibility.
Read the original article in fvw | TravelTalk.
Below, we are sharing the full English translation of the article for our international network.
BUSINESS TRAVEL
Business Travel on New Paths
Budget pressure, AI momentum, TMC mergers: Business travel is once again at a turning point. The eight most important trends.
By Oliver Graue
Rising prices, increasing complexity, and digital disruptions such as artificial intelligence are currently reshaping the business travel sector. This was also the assessment at the most recent fvw TravelTalk knowledge day “BizTravel,” attended by Christoph Carnier, President of the German Travel Management Association (VDR), Paul Hermann, head of M & E provider Event Inc.., and Carmen Wiedfeldt, who heads Eva Air’s business in Germany.
The dilemma is twofold: although the industry has returned to a high spend level, the number of trips remains clearly below previous levels. At the same time, digitalization, artificial intelligence, and geopolitical uncertainty are changing the rules of the game — confronting companies and providers alike with new challenges.
- Fewer Trips, but High Spending
The figures are clear: companies in Germany spent €47 billion on business travel in 2024 — almost as much as in 2019 (€55 billion). However, the number of business trips, at 107 million, remains about 40 percent below that level.
The reasons include significantly increased costs — not least due to the war in Ukraine and higher personnel expenses. Added to this is the experience from the COVID period that much can be handled virtually that previously required travel. Finally, the cautious stance of the German economy plays a role: companies are saving — perhaps also where investments might make sense.
Even if forecasts suggest companies may travel somewhat more again this year, cost pressure remains. Prices for flights and hotels continue to rise, even if not at the same pace as in the previous two to three years. At the same time, companies are applying stricter scrutiny — especially in Germany, where leading sectors such as automotive and mechanical engineering are under pressure.
- Trend Toward Targeted Travel
Fifteen to twenty years ago, so-called “Skat trips” were discussed, when many travelers extended long-distance business trips into leisure weekends. Today, critics argue that even before COVID too much travel was taking place: it is said that at least every fourth business trip before 2019 was unnecessary.
Today, terms such as “benefit” and “ROI” (return on investment) are central. The “real value” of a trip is examined more closely, says Susanne Neufang, head of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA).
A point underscored by Martina Eggler, Senior Vice President of the travel management consultancy Areka:
“On the customer side, we are increasingly seeing contacts from the top management level,” she says. “That shows that companies are approaching the topic of business mobility more consistently.” This also applies for events.
- Europe Strong, Intercontinental Weak
Because more business travelers are on the move again, German airports expect passenger growth of 4.2 percent this year.
However, growth is largely driven by European destinations. Intercontinental and domestic routes remain weaker. This reflects broader economic realities: China, once top business destination next to the USA, has lost importance. Within Germany, meetings have shifted significantly to virtual formats. Traditional one day trips have declined sharply.
For airlines, business travel remains indispensable, says Carmen Wiedfeldt of Eva Air — primarily due to higher average revenues compared to leisure travel. Airlines are increasingly focusing on Premium Economy where travel policies do not allow Business Class. This intermediate class is in growing demand.
- AI Changes the Rules
Artificial intelligence is cited as a central trend. It is already being used in expense accounting, where processes that were previously manual are now checked by AI for plausibility.
Martina Eggler also expects AI to play a greater role in planning business trips and in identifying real-time alternatives when delays occur. Especially in planning and booking, this will have consequences for both online booking engines (OBEs) and travel agencies, as these functions are (still) among their main tasks.
Whether OBEs will become obsolete because external platforms handle everything remains debated.
The key question: Can generative AI fully replicate service offerings? Eggler states: “Companies want to be in their own, unified ecosystem.” The future will likely involve a mix of AI and OBE; in any case, more processes will run via chatbots.
However, integration and trust remain central issues.
“Despite AI, companies continue to demand contact persons at TMCs,” Eggler says. “In times of global uncertainty, they trust them more than any machine.”
- End-to-End and Proprietary Platforms
The strategic alliance between Amex GBT and SAP Concur in autumn 2025 reflects a broader trend. GBT previously lacked its own end-to-end offering, meaning fully integrated booking and accounting software. Both now offer the product “Complete.”
Other major providers such as BCD and FCM are strengthening similar approaches, as Eggler and Carnier note.
“In travel agency tenders, they now offer the complete package of TMC, OBE and expense,” says Carnier, partly because AI simplifies many processes.
Companies hope unified platforms will reduce process costs while ensuring transparency and comprehensive data.
- Consolidation Among TMCs
Amex GBT’s acquisition of CWT represents ongoing consolidation in the TMC market.
Eggler views this ambivalently. On one hand, consolidation increases the market power of fewer large TMCs. On the other, technology may develop more quickly, service standards may become globally consistent, and end-to-end platforms may emerge.
Companies should actively manage their tenders and evaluate regional providers, Eggler advises. Carnier adds that smaller TMCs may also benefit by positioning themselves more individually.
- Sustainability Remains Relevant
Sustainability may no longer be the top priority, but it remains important.
“In tenders, companies now also ask about CO₂ emissions per seat,” says Eggler. In many travel policies, sustainability is already embedded.
- The New Role of the Travel Manager
Fewer trips and more AI do not make travel managers obsolete, says Carnier. They are no longer merely buyers, but “orchestrators of a complex system.”
Travel managers bring providers and internal departments together. Increasingly, they oversee corporate mobility beyond traditional business travel — from fleet management to commuting and bicycle leasing.
“It is not about quickly booking a trip like a private traveler thinks,” Carnier explains. “It is about managing thousands of travelers, preventing system disruptions, and bundling complexity.”
