Table of contents
Sustainability expectations are also rising: 2025 research (32,000 travelers in 34 countries) 84% report that traveling more sustainably is important, and 93% say they want to make more sustainable choices and to some extent have done so.
Three drivers dominate 2026 procurement realities: purpose, convenience, and price pressure. First, travel purpose is increasingly experience- and connection-oriented, reinforced by the rebound in experiences bookings and the shift toward office visits and conferences within corporate travel
A study characterizes rental car pricing as highly variable across major U.S. airport markets, useful as a proxy indicator of continued volatility in ground-fleet economics (acquisition, utilization, and operational costs).
The leading risks to transfer and excursion operations in 2026 cluster into macroeconomic, operational, and reputational categories. Operational risk is tied to capacity fragility: high demand plus staffing tightness (as evidenced in U.S. hospitality staffing survey results) increases the probability of service failures during peak windows, late pickups, no-shows, and cascading schedule slips.
These findings highlight how transfer and excursion programs are evolving under tighter capacity and higher expectations. drvn’s platform helps travel and tourism teams coordinate ground operations with the visibility and control required to meet these benchmarks.
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