Business Travel Disruption Is Here to Stay as Riskline Urges TMCs to Build Stronger Traveller Resilience

Written By: Tuhin Sarkar

Tuhin Sarkar

Tuhin Sarkar is a Senior Journalist at Travel and Tour World with more than 10 years of experience in travel and tourism journalism. A post-graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Jadavpur University, he combines strong research, industry knowledge and storytelling expertise to produce engaging, insightful and impactful travel news and fascinating feature stories.

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September 9, 2026 23:41 GMT+5:30

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Business travel disruption is here to stay, Riskline warns, as TMCs face growing pressure to protect travellers. Meanwhile, smarter risk intelligence and stronger resilience can turn chaos into action.

Business travel disruption is here to stay, and Riskline says the industry must adapt. TMCs now face a world where geopolitical instability, extreme weather, aviation problems and health emergencies can collide. As a result, disruption can spread far beyond one destination. Meanwhile, travellers increasingly expect fast, practical support when journeys go wrong. Riskline argues that resilience must therefore become a core part of business travel.

However, more information alone will not solve the problem. Instead, TMCs, technology providers and risk intelligence specialists must work together. By connecting trusted intelligence with traveller data and operational expertise, companies can respond faster and make better decisions.

Business Travel Disruption Is Becoming the New Normal, Riskline Says

Business travel is entering a period in which disruption can no longer be treated as an occasional operational headache. According to Riskline, companies and travel management companies (TMCs) increasingly need to build resilience into everyday travel programmes.

The warning comes as disruption affects travellers across the UK, US and Europe at significant levels. Perk’s latest business travel disruption survey found that 89% of business travellers surveyed experienced disruption in 2025. Travellers lost an average of 4 hours and 45 minutes on each disrupted trip, while 39% reported working extended hours to recover lost time.

These figures underline a broader change in corporate travel. Disruption is increasingly becoming part of the journey rather than an unusual exception.

A More Complicated Risk Environment

Riskline says the corporate travel environment is becoming more difficult to manage because several risks can develop simultaneously.

Geopolitical instability can disrupt air routes and border access. Extreme weather can close airports, damage infrastructure and affect hotel availability. Health emergencies can introduce new travel restrictions, while regulatory changes can alter requirements with little notice.

The consequences can also spread quickly.

An event affecting one destination may disrupt travellers elsewhere because modern business journeys depend on interconnected airline networks, airports, ground transportation providers, hotels and onward connections.

For travel managers, therefore, knowing what happened is only the starting point. They also need to understand which travellers could be affected and what action should follow.

Information Must Become Actionable

Laura Welsh, Head of Global Partnerships and Customer Success at Riskline, argues that speed is increasingly important, but speed without accurate context can create additional problems.

Travel teams already have access to airline notifications, government advisories, news reports, supplier communications and social media updates. During a crisis, however, a larger volume of information does not necessarily produce better decisions.

Risk intelligence can help by filtering and interpreting those developments.

The objective is to identify what has changed, assess its potential effect and provide enough context for travel professionals to determine an appropriate response.

This approach can be particularly important when disruption develops rapidly and travellers are already in transit.

TMCs, Technology and Risk Specialists Must Connect

Riskline believes resilience is strongest when different parts of the business travel ecosystem work together.

TMCs have direct relationships with travellers and understand the operational realities of bookings, servicing and itinerary changes. Risk intelligence providers contribute specialist analysis and global coverage. Technology can connect these capabilities and make intelligence easier to use.

That intersection can reduce the time teams spend searching through multiple sources and allow them to focus on traveller support and decision-making.

The approach also changes the role of risk within corporate travel programmes. Instead of appearing only after an incident, risk intelligence can contribute to decisions about whether a journey should proceed, how it should be managed and what assistance travellers may require.

Resilience Becomes a Competitive Advantage

Building resilience does not necessarily require organisations to introduce layers of additional technology and processes.

Riskline‘s message is more practical: organisations need trusted partners, dependable intelligence, connected systems, clear ownership, effective communication and defined response procedures.

For businesses sending employees across borders, this can make resilience an important part of the overall travel proposition.

The central lesson is clear. Disruption is unlikely to disappear, but its impact can be managed more effectively when accurate intelligence reaches the right people at the right time.