Corporate Travel Is Back—and More Demanding Than Ever
Global business travel spending reached $1.48 trillion in 2025 according to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), recovering fully from pandemic-era lows and trending toward new record highs through 2027. But corporate travel teams have not expanded at the same pace. Many companies cut travel management staff during the pandemic and have been slow to rehire, leaving existing teams managing significantly higher booking volumes.
The complexity of corporate travel has also increased. Hybrid work arrangements, stricter duty-of-care requirements, sustainability reporting mandates, and the proliferation of traveler-facing booking tools have added administrative layers that were not present five years ago.
Where Virtual Assistants Are Delivering Value
Corporate travel management virtual assistants operate at the intersection of logistics, finance, and communication—three areas that traditionally require separate staff.
Booking and Itinerary Management: VAs handle travel request intake, search and book flights, hotels, and ground transportation within corporate travel policy guidelines, issue itineraries, and manage changes when schedules shift. For companies using TMC partnerships through platforms like Concur, Egencia, or TripActions (now Navan), VAs can be granted role-based access to manage bookings within the platform without touching financial approval workflows.
Policy Compliance and Pre-Trip Approvals: One of the highest-value functions a corporate travel VA performs is checking bookings against the company's travel policy before they are confirmed—catching out-of-policy hotel rates, non-preferred carriers, and booking window violations. A 2025 GBTA research note found that companies with active pre-trip policy enforcement reduced total travel spend by an average of 9% without cutting trip volume.
Billing and Expense Reconciliation: VAs manage invoice receipt from suppliers, match charges against corporate card statements, flag discrepancies, and prepare expense reports for traveler or manager sign-off. For companies using virtual card programs, VAs coordinate card issuance and closure for each trip. This removes a significant burden from both the traveler and the finance team.
Traveler Support: VAs serve as the first point of contact for travelers needing same-day changes, hotel complaints, or emergency rebooking during disruptions. They operate within defined protocols and escalate to the travel manager or TMC emergency line only when a situation requires it.
The Staffing Equation in Corporate Travel
Corporate travel coordinators in the U.S. earn $45,000–$65,000 annually. For mid-size companies managing 200–500 trips per year, a single coordinator is often insufficient during peak periods but more than enough during slow months—creating a staffing mismatch that virtual assistants can resolve. VAs scale with volume, working more hours during conference and fiscal year-end travel spikes and fewer during summer lulls.
Business Travel News reported in early 2026 that 43% of corporate travel managers surveyed were exploring virtual or remote support staff as a way to manage volume without adding full-time headcount. Among those who had already made the transition, 78% reported being satisfied or highly satisfied with the outcome.
Integration With Existing Infrastructure
Corporate travel VAs do not replace existing systems—they work within them. Most TMC platforms, expense management tools, and travel policy databases support secure remote access. Companies should establish clear data handling protocols, ensure VAs sign confidentiality agreements, and provide training on the corporate travel policy before a VA handles any live booking.
Stealth Agents offers corporate-focused virtual assistants with experience in business travel platforms and the process discipline that enterprise environments require.
Looking Ahead
Sustainability reporting is becoming a key deliverable for corporate travel teams, with companies required to track and report the carbon footprint of business travel for ESG disclosures. VAs are increasingly being trained to tag bookings with emissions data and prepare quarterly sustainability reports—adding another function to an already expanding role.
Sources
- Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), Global Business Travel Forecast 2025
- GBTA, Travel Policy Compliance Research Note 2025
- Business Travel News, Corporate Travel Manager Survey Q1 2026