The modern business trip looks very different from the one most companies designed their travel policies around. Airports have become workspaces, hotel lobbies double as meeting rooms, and international travel no longer offers a pause from the working day. Today, work travels with business travellers.
New research from Holafly for Business suggests this shift is fundamentally changing what professionals need when they are on the road. While internet access remains essential, business travellers are increasingly prioritising secure and reliable access to the digital tools they depend on every day, rather than relying on unsecured public Wi-Fi networks. Security now ranks as the most important factor when staying online abroad, surpassing both speed and coverage. More than four in ten business travellers identify secure internet access as their top priority, reflecting the growing importance of accessing company systems, cloud platforms and sensitive information while travelling internationally.
According to Holafly’s Summer Travel & eSIM Report 2026, business travellers now represent almost one in five international travellers. Yet the profile of this group is changing rapidly. More than half are under the age of 35, while the proportion aged over 45 has fallen by 7.4 percentage points compared with the previous year. The findings suggest that a new generation of professionals is reshaping expectations around flexibility, technology and how work is performed while travelling.
The report also reveals that connectivity challenges are no longer merely an inconvenience. An overwhelming 86.5% of business travellers report having experienced stress caused by connectivity issues while travelling. For younger professionals, digital-first solutions such as eSIMs have become the preferred option, while older travellers continue to rely more heavily on traditional roaming services.
The impact extends beyond convenience and directly affects performance. Among travellers whose companies provide a corporate eSIM, 81.3% report a positive impact on productivity, compared with 61.2% of those using traditional corporate roaming solutions and 52.4% of employees who arrange connectivity themselves. The ability to access work securely and seamlessly from the moment a traveller arrives may play a larger role in productivity than many organisations currently recognise.
“Business travel used to be about getting from one place to another. Today, it is about carrying your entire working environment with you,” said Alex Bryzowski, VP of Holafly for Business. “Professionals are expected to respond and make decisions wherever they are in the world. What our research shows is that they need the confidence to work securely and effectively from anywhere.”
As work becomes increasingly distributed and international travel more integrated into everyday business operations, organisations may need to rethink how they support employees on the move. The modern business trip is no longer defined by the destination, but by the ability to work securely, productively and without interruption from anywhere in the world.
