Report reveals tech workers and tradespeople among most frequent business travelers while tech and finance receive the highest travel budgets

New research comes as Hotels.com launches business travel experience that helps travelers book faster and earn rewards for future trips

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 1, 2026-- New Booked for Business Report from Hotels.com® reveals who's hitting the road most, which professions travel best and why free breakfast has become the ultimate business-travel perk. With more than a third (37%) of Americans reporting they travel more for work now than they did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hotels.com has launched a new business travel experience globally, designed to make work trips faster and easier to book.

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Available through the Hotels.com website and app, travelers can now save their work-trip preferences, find business-ready hotels, rebook preferred stays and earn rewards on business trips—all within the same Hotels.com account they use for personal travel.

According to the new Hotels.com Booked for Business report*, which unpacks business travel trends and preferences, the top findings include:

• Business travel is back. Travelers spend an average of 10 nights a year on work trips, with tech workers and tradespeople traveling the most frequently.
• Finance ($134) and Tech ($131) workers report the highest per diems, exceeding the overall spending limit average of $115 per day, while government workers receive the lowest at less than $79 per day.
• Bleisure is now expected, not an add-on. Nearly two-thirds (63%) say the best business travel destinations make it easy to blend work and leisure, with New York, Los Angeles and Miami as the top-ranked destinations.
• June and September are the new power-travel months, emerging as the busiest times of year for business trips.
• Gen Z is redefining the business travel experience. They travel for work more than any other generation, are the most likely to change their behavior on the road, use hotel laundry services, and switch hotel brands. Meanwhile, Boomers stand out as the most punctual and hotel-loyal travelers.
• Forget upgrades. Business travelers want breakfast. Free breakfast (49%) outranks loyalty rewards (39%) and flexible check-in (37%) as the most valued hotel perk.

“Business travel is no longer just about getting from one meeting to the next,” said Melanie Fish, Vice President of Global PR and Hotels.com travel expert. “Travelers want a hotel and destination that can keep up with both sides of their personality—from high-speed Wi-Fi and an early breakfast before a big presentation to a great location and a comfortable place to unwind afterward.”

Who is Powering Business Travel?

Tech workers and tradespeople are today's most frequent business travelers, averaging five to six work trips each year. Tech workers, in particular, travel 50% more often than they did before the pandemic and enjoy some of the highest travel budgets. The average hotel budget is $236 per night, rising to $264 for tech professionals.

Workplace Travel Superlatives:

• Most likely to hit the hotel gym: Journalism and publishing — 60% say that a great gym is what makes a hotel stay great.
• Most likely to network at the hotel bar: Sales and Marketing — 52% say a great hotel bar is a defining feature of a great work trip.
• Most likely to work from 35,000 feet: Finance and tech employees take the longest flights on average.
• Most likely to switch work personas: Tech employees are the most likely to “mode switch”— or adopt a different personality at work — with 69% saying they do so. Sales and marketing follow at 62%.
• Most likely to pick up the bill: Finance ($134), Tech ($131), and energy and renewables ($127) workers report the highest per diems (compared to the overall average of $115), and government workers report the lowest at less than $79 per day. Meanwhile, consultants were the one industry to say they don’t have a defined per diem.

From Boardroom Boss to Vacay Princess

The Hotels.com report also reveals that today’s business travelers are not just changing their schedules when they travel for work; they are changing their personalities. 56% of U.S. travelers admit to showing a different side of themselves when on work trips — and the number rises to 69% among Gen Zers.

In ‘work mode’ and on business trips many Americans lean into a more focused, structured type A personality, while in their personal lives and on vacation it's all about that type B energy. In fact, one in five Americans admit they are a boss at work but a ‘passenger princess/prince’ in their personal life.

Some of the biggest shifts in personas include:

• Planning: 49% describe themselves as planners, and 47% say they are super organized in work, but only 26% take charge of booking trips outside of work.
• Early risers: 58% say they wake up earlier during work trips than leisure trips. Plus, 58% say they are always punctual when traveling for work.
• Introvert v Extrovert: 25% of business travelers say they are more extroverted outside of work, yet 71% of Gen Zers are social butterflies on work trips and homebodies off the clock.
• Budgeting: Value for money (42%) is travelers’ number one priority on leisure trips, with 41% admitting that they use their work budgeting skills to get more value from personal travel.

Top Cities for Business Travel

Whether for a major meeting or a bleisure extension, travelers rank these destinations highest for business travel:

1. New York, NY, USA: The London offers a central Midtown base with meeting venues, dining and fitness facilities, close to Broadway and Rockefeller Plaza.
2. Los Angeles, CA, USA: The Sun Rose West Hollywood offers event spaces, restaurants, a rooftop pool, lounge and spa near West Hollywood and Beverly Hills.
3. Miami, FL, USA: Kimpton EPIC Hotel by IHG provides a central base with meeting space, work-friendly amenities, dining and a pool.
4. London, England: The Standard London is a convenient, rail-connected choice, with meeting space, wellness amenities and access to King’s Cross and central London.
5. Tokyo, Japan: The Capitol Hotel Tokyu combines a central location with meeting facilities, spa, pool and all-day dining.
6. Toronto, Canada: Shangri-La Toronto offers a downtown location, PATH access, extensive meeting space, dining, fitness facilities and pool amenities.
7. Paris, France: Maison Colbert provides a central base with meeting rooms, work-friendly spaces and access to major Paris attractions.
8. Singapore: Mandarin Oriental sits in the Marina Bay precinct and offers meeting spaces, web-conferencing capabilities, spa and pool amenities, plus skyline-view dining.
9. Amsterdam, Netherlands: art'otel Amsterdam places travelers near Amsterdam Central Station with an indoor pool to take a dip after meetings.
10. Rome, Italy: Hotel Chapter Roma offers a central location with meeting rooms, rooftop restaurant and spa facilities for travelers extending a business trip into a leisure stay.

Business travel on Hotels.com: built for the way work trips really happen

Hotels.com’s new business travel experience is designed to take the friction out of booking work trips while keeping the flexibility, hotel choice and rewards travelers value for personal travel, letting travelers easily switch between work and play mode.

• Rebook a preferred hotel in a few clicks withQuick Rebook.
• Set preferences once for must-have business-trip preferences, including fully refundable stays, Wi-Fi, breakfast, gym access, and a maximum nightly rate.
• Find work-ready stays faster with business-trip focused filters and reviews.
• Stay flexible when plans change: Travelers can filter for fully refundable stays.
• Turn work trips into future travel: Members can earn rewards on eligible business stays and use them toward future travel.
• Keep work and leisure together: Travelers can switch between business and leisure trips while managing their stays and eligible rewards in one Hotels.com account.

This new business travel experience on Hotels.com is available from 1 September 2026 through the Hotels.com website and app, where supported. Travelers can learn more at Hotels.com.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: What is the Hotels.com Booked for Business Report?
A: The Booked for Business Report is Hotels.com research based on a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults who have traveled for business in the last three years, exploring how people behave and feel when they travel for work.

Q: When was the business travel research conducted?
A: The survey was fielded from 4–12 July 2026 among U.S. adults who had taken a domestic or international business trip in the previous three years.

Q: Who is the new Hotels.com business travel experience designed for?
A: The new experience is built for self-booking travelers who manage their own work trips and want to save preferences, find business-ready hotels quickly and earn rewards on eligible business stays.

Q: How do travelers use the Hotels.com business trip features?
A: Travelers can indicate that they are booking a business trip on the Hotels.com website or app, save preferences such as Wi-Fi, breakfast and rate limits, and then see hotels that better match their work-trip needs.

Q: Can travelers earn rewards on business trips booked through Hotels.com?
A: Yes, members can earn rewards on eligible business stays and apply them toward future trips, turning nights booked for work into value they can use for personal travel.

About Hotels.com

Hotels.com is the hotels expert with hundreds of thousands of hotels around the world. We’re all about giving travelers more of what they want — whether that’s instant savings, flexible options, or rewards they can actually use.

As a member, you save with discounts of 20% or more on hundreds of thousands of hotels worldwide and earn rewards on every eligible stay. Plus, with Save Your Way™, you have control over your savings. Take your member discount today or turn it into future travel rewards.

We also make booking a stay simple and flexible with Price Alerts and Free Cancellation on most hotels, so you can feel confident you’re getting great value even when plans change.

Whether it’s a business trip or a bucket-list getaway, Hotels.com helps you get the most out of every trip.

© 2026 Hotels.com, LP, an Expedia Group company. All rights reserved. Hotels.com and the Hotels.com logo are trademarks of Hotels.com, LP. CST# 2083949-50

About this research

*Survey of 2,000 U.S. adults who have traveled for business in the last 3 years (domestically / internationally), conducted between July 4 – July 12, 2026.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260901377020/en/

Media contact: press@hotels.com

Source: Hotels.com