Optimism in the global business travel sector has been declining for more than a year, according to a report released by the Global Business Travel Association.

The report said positive sentiment fell from 67% in November 2024 to 31% in April 2025, which looked at the impact of more than 900 business travel professionals on tariffs, tightening border policies and other U.S. government policies announced this year.

A quarter of respondents in the United States and Europe in Canada said they felt “pessimistic” or “very pessimistic” about the industry outlook this year.

However, 40% of those surveyed said they were neither positive nor negative.

"I haven't seen such high uncertainty since I've been playing a four-year role for four years," the association's CEO Suzanne Neufang told CNBC Travel on Tuesday.

Nearly 30% of business travel buyers expect their companies to reduce their employee trips this year, while about 20% of business companies say they are unsure.

"They don't even have enough confidence to say things will be good or things are not going well," she said.

About 27% of respondents also said they expect business travel spending to decrease, too.

One-third of business travel buyers said their companies had changed or were considering changing policies regarding travel to and from the United States, the report shows.

About 6% said their company had moved its activity from the U.S. to another country.

"From the Apac perspective, from the European perspective, and even from Latam, there are opportunities to be where these meetings take place," Neufang said. "There are many other opportunities to be winners in this commercial game."

Business travel professionals have expressed some concerns about the potential for the long-term impact of this year’s Trump administration decision, due to concerns about the cost of business travel (54%) and handling visa issues (46%).

However, air tickets worldwide fell slightly - about $17 or 2.2%, according to travel data company FCM Consulting.

Nevertheless, by the end of 2025, the global business travel market has not reached $1.6 trillion, Neufang said.

But, she said, only "the last 100 days have not had a negative impact anywhere."

By 2028, she said, the Global Business Travel Association expects that the figure will exceed the $2 trillion mark. She noted that while business travel volumes have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, business travel spending has fully recovered in 2024, partly due to inflation.

But she said new business trips could occur with the Trump administration.

“In times of trade wars, business travel may actually add at least a while – in order to find new partners (and) new markets,” she said. “You lose one customer and you need to find another. So, I don’t think that viewpoint means all our doom and melancholy.”

But if the tariffs are still raised, "it will certainly have an impact on our travels...but I think Europe, Asia, Europe to Asia, Asia, Asia, to Europe. I think anywhere to Africa, all of that might be good."

Leisure travel to the United States has declined in 2025. International tourist spending is expected to fall 4.7% from 2024, with approximately $8.5 billion in the U.S. travel industry, and revenues in the year were widely expected to grow.

- CNBC's Bella Stoddart contributed to the report.