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MEET IN EDICIÓN ESPECIAL FERIAS 2025 / SPECIAL EDITION FAIRS 2025 TENDENCIAS | TRENDS
2009 | The Crisis
e year following the last great economic crisis was dicult in
all economic sectors and, by extension and association, it was
also dicult for Business Travel & . e extra expenses
that were commonplace until then began to be questioned and
austerity was imposed. Roles such as the travel manager gained
strength to implement the savings policy in eorts to gain e-
ciency in travel that aected the conditions of travelers.
As it later turned out, the winds of economic recession sweep-
ing the world were to bring forward a series of changes of deep
and prolonged duration for corporate travel and events. In other
words, express conventions, cost-cutting in travel programs in
general, and the need to make employee travel more produc-
tive were not short-term trends. e ‘ecient travel’ era is here
to stay.
2010 | The Digital Traveler
Frequent travelers began to discover that, in their hands, through
their cell phones, they could do things that had been unimagi-
nable just a few years ago. Connectivity, applications, programs,
communication... ey had a whole universe at their ngertips
at increasingly competitive rates. Companies began to provide
their employees with information, booking, and assistance so-
lutions, in addition to maintaining more uid communication.
Along these lines, an unstoppable entertainment indus-
try also emerged, far beyond traditional games: you could be
watching the news on your favorite TV channel, reading an e-
book, accessing huge song libraries, and keeping up with friends
on Facebook or Twitter... All leisure and business activities could
now t inside a pocket.
2011 | Incentives
Studies show that after taking an incentive trip, employees
perform increasingly better. However, knowing that behind
the work there is a reward trip may not be enough to encour-
age greater eorts, especially at a time of shrinking salaries and
reduced bonuses in some sectors, as was the case in , when
the crisis had not yet been overcome. Over the course of that
year, companies managed to surprise participants with mini-
mal costs and a maximum of creativity.
e recession not only limited the number of attendees, but
also the duration of group incentive trips. As a result, domestic
getaways and trips to European destinations were in demand.
Other popular options included rural cottages to enjoy nature,
making wine tourism fashionable, among other activities in
this type of environment. Snowy destinations, as well as sea and
river cruises also gained popularity in terms of incentive travel.
2012 | Smart Meetings
e spectacular progression experienced by the meetings seg-
ment since the turn of the millennium had much to do with a
global aspect: progress, in addition to demographic and eco-
nomic development. As Martin Sirk explained at the
time, the exponential growth of this sector occurred in parallel
with the development of elds such as science, technology, and
healthcare.
In terms of meetings, they can dier in many ways – they can
be international or national, held in individual venues or hotels,
with many or few participants. However, all of them need to har-
moniously combine a number of elements: the location, trans-
port, accommodation, services, content, the social itinerary…
us, the role of the organizer, the event agency, and the
have been gaining traction as true consultants.
2013 | Women
More women are traveling alone for work. Just take a look at the
lounges at airports or at the reception desks at business hotels,
and you will see many women waiting to check in. In , it was
estimated that around of management positions in the Eu-
ropean Union were held by women, a very signicant gure that
positioned the female target as a very important segment for
the Business Travel & MICE industry.
Security is at the top of the list in terms of this segment’s
needs. e hotel sector, which is oriented to the corporate seg-
ment, has taken good note of the needs of female executives and
has been developing exclusive services for them for some time
now, with mixed results. is trend also began to develop for air-
lines. e success of their eorts is still subject to debate.
2014 | Disintermediation
e power of comparison that came with the Internet became
intrinsic to the way we consume. As such, the Internet became
an inexhaustible source of travel and tourism services, some-
thing that favored direct sales by hotels, airlines, and rent-a-car
companies, as well as the proliferation of comparators to navi-
gate the digital jungle. Disintermediation took many vacation
agencies by storm.
However, in the field of business travel, these agencies
strengthened their advisory role, leaving behind the transac-
tional model that prevailed until then. In contrast to the direct
sales favored by many suppliers to save on distribution costs
and build customer loyalty, the business travel world remained
faithful to the agency, albeit with an evolution of the value prop-
osition.
2015 | Millennials
Hyperconnected, independent, open-minded, demanding, sup-
portive, collaborative, digital natives... e labels that can be
placed on the travelers of the so-called Millennial Generation
are varied, but they all coincide in dening a new type of con-
sumer with very clear ideas and to whom traditional canons
seem obsolete. eir way of interacting with the world is based
on two essential pillars: connectivity and mobility.
All these characteristics shaped a new type of traveler, with
dierent needs and interests, who somehow ditched the hab-
its of previous generations, with a rm commitment to online
booking, exibility, and, above all, immediacy.
2016 | Security
e previous decade also saw socio-political conicts and natu-
ral disasters that put the Business Travel & sectors to the
test, especially for companies dedicated to traveler protection,
as a global concept. e major insurers had already ne-tuned
their coverage and assistance services, especially for companies
with interests outside of Spain, since these clients began trave-
ling increasingly further away and to destinations that were be-
coming less in line with Western standards.
At this time, the three main battlegrounds were medical care,
security, and travel assistance. In all of them, technology played
a key role, especially due to the enormous evolution of commu-
