Why UAE businesses will spend more on travel in 2026

Dubai: Business travel across the Middle East continued to grow in 2025, and companies expect the trend to carry into 2026 as in-person meetings and regional cooperation remain central to how work gets done. Travel management firm musafir.com says spending on business travel in the region rose about 20% last year, driven by major events, leadership gatherings and regular trips between Gulf cities.

The UAE sits at the heart of this activity. Companies are travelling more frequently between Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Doha to manage projects, meet partners and coordinate strategy. That helped push musafir.com’s corporate travel bookings up 35% year-on-year, showing how demand is rising across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. More trips are linked to conferences, trade shows and company offsites, with businesses moving more smoothly across Gulf markets.

A large share of this growth comes from MICE activity — which refers to meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions. These gatherings allow companies to bring key people together in one place and move decisions forward quickly.

“We are witnessing a fundamental recalibration of why companies travel,” said Sachin Gadoya, CEO and Co-Founder of musafir.com. “Business travel is no longer defined by routine movement, but by purposeful moments that drive alignment, trust and outcomes.”

Face-to-face still matters

Globally, spending on business travel reached $1.47 trillion in 2024, but companies are now more selective about when and why they travel. Instead of frequent short trips, firms are choosing fewer but more meaningful journeys — such as leadership summits, strategy sessions and innovation workshops — where being in the same room helps teams agree faster and build trust.

Executives say in-person engagement still offers benefits that online meetings cannot fully replace, especially when negotiating deals or solving complex issues. This approach is also shaping the way UAE-based companies travel, as they prioritise trips that strengthen relationships and speed up decisions.

Why firms choose the UAE

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have expanded their events calendars, attracting international exhibitions and forums from across Asia, Europe and North America. Dubai’s connectivity and venues, along with Abu Dhabi and Riyadh’s growing share of business meetings, make the region an attractive choice for corporate gatherings.

Trips between the UAE and Saudi Arabia have increased as companies run regional projects across both markets. More hotel bookings linked to construction, technology, energy and real estate show that activity is not limited to conferences.

“For many organisations, a focused two-day in-person strategy session can achieve what weeks of virtual meetings cannot,” said Gadoya. “That’s particularly true for businesses managing regional growth and complex stakeholder relationships.”

Tech will shape 2026 travel

Looking ahead, companies expect technology to play a bigger role in how business travel is planned and managed. Artificial intelligence is being built into booking systems to personalise trips and automate routine processes.

Jen Moyse, Vice President of Product and Head of UX at SAP Concur, said companies will rely on AI to improve traveller safety: “Businesses will use it to enhance duty of care, predicting risks and personalising safety alerts to individual travellers.”

With more automation, companies also want to maintain transparency and trust.

Charlie Sultan, President of Concur Travel at SAP Concur, said AI adoption must be balanced carefully: “All eyes will be on companies and how they approach talent and staffing in response to AI adoption. Establishing trust and ensuring transparency will be critical in the year ahead.”

Rethinking travel spending

Automation is expected to change how companies track expenses and reimburse employees.

Christopher Juneau, SVP and Head of Product Marketing at SAP Concur, said some traditional processes may disappear: “In a few short years, the concept of an ‘expense report’ may be obsolete, replaced by agentic AI that audits, reconciles, and reimburses automatically in the background.”

To benefit from these changes, businesses are linking more of their internal systems — including invoices, receipts and payroll — to AI tools so spending becomes easier to monitor and manage.

Companies are also looking for ways to control costs without limiting travel that drives growth. Kacey Flygare, General Manager and Global Business Head, SMB, at SAP Concur, said automation will help manage spending responsibly: “Pre-spend controls such as virtual cards and dynamic card controls will be gamechangers in how organisations control spend, lower risk, and reduce the burden of cash outlay for business expenses.”

Strong outlook this year

Many finance leaders expect 2026 to be a year of experimentation as they balance innovation with risk.

Sonja Simon, Chief Financial Officer, SAP Americas, said progress depends on trying new approaches: “Only when failure becomes a data point, not a downfall, will the finance function fully unlock AI’s potential to reimagine decision-making, growth, and value creation across the business.”

The outlook remains positive. As Gulf economies expand and cross-border cooperation deepens, companies in the UAE are expected to keep travelling for work — focusing on trips that build relationships, reinforce strategy and support major projects. Demand may not reach pre-2020 levels, but travel is becoming more strategic, more selective and more connected to business outcomes.

For UAE-based workers, the message is clear: business travel is returning not as routine movement, but as a tool for progress — built around trust, collaboration and results.