Navan’s Latest Business Travel Benchmark Shows That In-Person Remains a Winning Strategy

The third edition of the Navan Business Travel Benchmark is out — and the results, from Q4 2025, are a clear sign that companies are still betting on in-person connections to drive results.

The benchmark aggregates Navan customer data to measure business travel volume and spend against a baseline of 100 and offers insights that Navan is uniquely positioned to deliver as a unified T&E solution. And year-over-year results show that business travel continues its steady march upward, with the Q4 index measuring 165.3 — 13.8% higher than Q4 2024.

Download the latest Navan Business Travel Benchmark Report.

That increase comes despite the seasonal business travel shift that happens every Q4, when road warriors transition into holiday mode. In Q4 2025, the BTB decreased 7.3% from Q3 — a quarter that saw the BTB reach its highest-ever peak of 178.4, despite the government shutdown.

To help put these numbers in context, we also measure overall travel volume, as tracked by TSA data. And the nearly 14% year-over-year growth in Q4 business travel volume far outpaced that of overall travel, which grew by just 1.2%, down from 2.5% the year before.

In a cost‑conscious environment, this divergence suggests companies are making intentional choices about when in‑person time is worth the investment.

In-Person Industries, Targeted Spend

As with Q3 2025, Government & Public Sector (this group includes not only federal agencies, but also state and local governments, public universities, and critical government contractors) led all other industries in YoY growth, at a blistering pace of 36.1%. But two industries stood out for their increased growth from Q3:

• Hospitality & Travel (up 25.3 percentage points to 33.3%)
• Energy & Utilities (up 11.3 percentage points to 21.2%)

These are sectors where trust, safety, and complex operations make “being there” critical — and their continued growth underlines how difficult it is to replace in‑person interactions in high‑stakes work.

How travelers spent money on the road also indicates their companies’ priorities. Spending growth was highest in two categories: Public Transport, Tolls & Parking (21.6%), and Taxi & Rideshare (19.1%). This points to a more targeted approach: fewer, more purposeful gatherings with clients and teams, and more in-town transportation to optimize time on the ground.

Get all the insights into how companies are traveling now: Download the Navan Business Travel Benchmark Report from Q4 2025.