Navan, the leading all-in-one business travel, payments, and expense management platform, has released its quarterly Navan Business Travel Index (BTI) showing a 20 percent YoY increase in business travel activity in Q3, 2025. This far exceeds the 0.6 percent YoY growth seen in TSA travel data during the same period. The Navan Business Travel Index is designed to be a global indicator of the strength of the business travel economy, powered by millions of transactions from more than 10,000 businesses on the Navan platform. Year-over-year data results represent Q3 2025 (July 1–September 30) compared to Q3 2024 (July 1–September 30). The Business Travel Index is compared against a TSA index, constructed with the same methodology as the BTI on publicly available TSA passenger volume data.
What stands out in Q3 2025:
- Spend growth continues to outpace volume growth – The divergence between air, hotel and expense spend and volume continues to widen, especially internationally where the gap expanded from a 7 percent difference to a 12 percent difference in one year.
- Key industries fuel growth – The Government & Public Sector experienced the biggest YoY growth in overall travel spend and volume at 28 percent during Q3, followed by Financial Services up 24 percent and Media & Entertainment also up 24 percent YoY.
- In-destination transportation spend increases – How people travel around their destinations was a key investment area, with strong YoY growth in Taxi & Rideshare up 20 percent; Public Transport, Tolls & Parking up 20 percent; and Black Cars up 13 percent.
- Client entertainment spend slows – The only category to decline YoY in Q3 was Entertaining Clients, down 0.8 percent. Notably, however, per-transaction spend in this category increased 9 percent YoY, suggesting that companies may be investing more in fewer, bigger-ticket events.
“This quarter’s Navan Business Travel Index isn’t just about clear trends; in our view, it’s a strong indicator of how modern businesses are allocating capital to support growth, and we’re seeing a deliberate strategy unfold,” said Amy Butte, chief financial officer at Navan. “We believe companies are making smart investments in face-to-face meetings, whether it’s for closing deals, strengthening partnerships, or bringing teams together. For finance leaders, the Navan BTI provides a critical benchmark to help them understand if their own travel investment is keeping pace with the market and driving a competitive advantage.”
Nasdaq economics team has back-tested and verified the Navan BTI, bringing their expertise in index construction and economic modeling. “The first edition of the Navan BTI validated our hypothesis that this report would offer a perspective on corporate travel that had been lacking,” said Phil Mackintosh, chief economist, Nasdaq. “We’re proud to continue our partnership with Navan for this next installment, which provides a clear insight into the business travel landscape and how companies prioritize it as an area of investment.”
Source: Navan
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