Global travel has shown a significant rebound, with volume nearing pre-pandemic levels. A development, that at SAP Concur, we’ve seen in a rebound in business travel bookings. “Overall, Canadian domestic air travel volume for business trips is up 4 per cent, year over year,” said Brian Veloso, Managing Director at SAP Concur Canada. “The return to business travel is driven by business travelers’ enthusiasm. The most recent SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey revealed that 76 per cent of global business travelers enjoy business travel and 67 per cent feel it’s critical for career advancement.”
To get a sense of the state of business travel, SAP Concur analyzed domestic and international air travel bookings in Concur Travel between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024, and compared airfare and overall travel volume to the same timeframe in 2023.
It found:
Year-Over-Year Travel Volume
| Month | Domestic | International |
| January | +9% | +15% |
| February | +8% | +15% |
| March | -7% | -3% |
| April | +11% | +14% |
| May | -1% | +5% |
| June | -5% | -2% |
| July | +14% | +14% |
| August | +5% | +3% |
| September | +8% | +8% |
| October | +5% | +10% |
| November | -2% | +2% |
| December | +12% | +14% |
The above chart reflects the percent difference in total bookings year over year (comparing 2023 and 2024)
- Overall Canadian domestic travel volume is up nearly 4% year over year. January, February, April, and July were popular months for business travel.
- International travel saw a 7.83% increase year-over-year, with significant growth in January, February, April, and December.
- Overall Canadian travel volume increased nearly 8% year over year. International travel volume increased most months in 2024. Like with domestic travel, January (15%), February (15%), April (14%), July (14%), and December (14%)
2024 Travel Volume
- January marked the busiest month for domestic business travel in Canada, as travelers resumed business activities after the holiday season.
- December had the largest year-over-year increase for both domestic and international travel, reflecting renewed confidence in business travel.
- Summer months (June and July) saw contrasting trends, with a drop in domestic airfare demand in June, but a strong rebound in July.
Domestic Airfare
| Month | Average Fare (CAD) | YoY Difference |
| January | $574 | +1% |
| February | $654 | +6% |
| March | $667 | +10% |
| April | $630 | +6% |
| May | $620 | +4% |
| June | $619 | -3% |
| July | $589 | -8% |
| August | $579 | -3% |
| September | $605 | -1% |
| October | $598 | -1% |
| November | $619 | +1% |
| December | $579 | -4% |
The above chart reflects the percent difference in airfare year over year (comparing 2023 and 2024)
- Canadian domestic airfare fluctuated throughout the year, with the highest increase in March and the lowest in July and December.
- The cost of Canadian domestic flights decreased in mid-year months (June to August), making summer a more affordable time for business travel.
International Airfare Trends
| Month | Average Fare (CAD) | YoY Difference |
| January | $998 | -3% |
| February | $1,131 | +1% |
| March | $1,109 | +1% |
| April | $1,088 | +1% |
| May | $1,078 | -4% |
| June | $1,102 | -6% |
| July | $1,059 | -6% |
| August | $1,015 | -9% |
| September | $1,061 | -5% |
| October | $1,048 | -2% |
| November | $1,056 | +8% |
| December | $996 | -2% |
The above chart reflects the percent difference in airfare year over year (comparing 2023 and 2024)
- Canadian International airfare decreased in the first half of 2024, particularly in the summer months (June to August), making it a more affordable time for global business travel.
- Fares remained relatively stable in the second half of the year, with a notable increase in November, aligning with peak business travel periods.
The Future of Business Travel in Canada
Business travel volumes in Canada are approaching pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating the resilience of corporate travel. Domestic travel remains strong, and international travel has stabilized with increasing demand. As inflation pressures ease, we anticipate further normalization of travel costs. At SAP Concur, we are excited about the continued evolution of business travel and remain committed to supporting Canadian business travelers on their journeys.
Methodology: SAP Concur analyzed travel booking data from Canada-based travelers in Concur Travel between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2024.
China’s Volt Typhoon Hackers Dwelled in US Electric Grid for 300 Days
Posted in Commentary with tags Hacked on March 12, 2025 by itnerdA case study published yesterday has detailed the intrusion attributed to the notorious Chinese threat actor Volt Typhoon into the US electric grid. The threat actors had been in the Littleton Electric Light and Water Departments (LELWD) — a small public power utility in MA — network for over 300 days.
Ensar Seker, Chief Security Officer at SOCRadar had this comment:
“This latest Volt Typhoon intrusion into the US electric grid is a serious escalation in cyber-enabled espionage, highlighting the vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure (CI) in the face of persistent threats from nation-state actors. The fact that Chinese hackers remained undetected for over 300 days inside a small public utility’s network is concerning, not only because of the extended dwell time but also because it reinforces the broader risks posed to larger, more complex CI networks.”
“This group is known for pre-positioning within US CI—not necessarily for immediate sabotage, but for future disruption scenarios. By embedding themselves in water and power utilities, they gain persistent access to industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT), which could be leveraged in a geopolitical crisis.”
“The 300-day undetected presence underscores the need for better visibility in ICS/OT networks. Traditional IT-centric security approaches often fail to detect threats in air-gapped or segmented OT environments until adversaries attempt lateral movement or trigger suspicious activities.”
“LELWD is a small public utility, but this attack demonstrates that threat actors don’t always go for high-profile targets first. Small, underfunded utilities can serve as low-hanging fruit, allowing adversaries to test tactics, develop footholds, and pivot toward larger targets.”
“With China’s continued focus on US CI, the long-term concern is that such intrusions could eventually transition from intelligence gathering to active disruption—potentially affecting power grids, water systems, or transportation networks in times of geopolitical tension.”
“Threat actors will increasingly compromise ICS security providers or managed service firms to gain access to multiple critical infrastructure targets at scale. This incident will likely lead to tighter US government scrutiny over critical infrastructure cybersecurity, pushing for mandatory threat hunting and network monitoring in OT environments.”
“Since traditional security tools struggle in air-gapped OT environments, the adoption of AI-driven anomaly detection will become a priority for utilities to identify stealthy intrusions earlier.”
Volt Typhoon is a today problem that needs immediate action at multiple levels. Sadly that doesn’t seem to be happening which means that this threat actor, and ones like them are just going to cause trouble for the foreseeable future.
UPDATE: James McQuiggan, Security Awareness Advocate at KnowBe4 adds this comment:
“Nation-state cyber actors continue to breach and gain access to critical U.S. infrastructure facilities and embed themselves, monitoring operations and preparing for future leverage or disruption.”
“The Volt Typhoon operation and other similar operating groups are evidence that the U.S. could enter into a cyber Cold War, with the enemy on the other side of the world going undetected for months while they exploit IT-OT gaps in an organization’s cybersecurity technology or users.”
“Organizations must move beyond passive monitoring to proactive threat hunting and network segmentation, and they must leverage the various intelligence sharing groups to work towards disrupting these persistent threats.”
“Cybersecurity is a continuous risk reduction effort with updated defense-in-depth cybersecurity initiatives to force adversaries to adjust constantly. Additionally, critical infrastructure must improve its resiliency to guard the nation’s infrastructure.”
UPDATE #2: Ted Miracco, CEO, Approov had this comment:
“Volt Typhoon’s 300-day foothold in the U.S. electric grid was a blueprint for future sabotage. Against nation-state actors this sophisticated, only a Zero Trust, intelligence-driven defense can outmatch their persistence. Assume compromise, segment ruthlessly, and hunt threats before they strike.”
Evan Dornbush, former NSA cybersecurity expert follows with this:
“Attackers have an unfair and perpetual advantage because they monopolize output from the vulnerability research community. Until defenders can effectively engage the audience that produces the zero day exploits attackers rely on, defenders will always be reacting post-attack rather than taking proactive measures.
“The re-emergence of network threat detection is critical in adversary discovery. While overall I’m an AI skeptic, if there’s one area that continues to show promise, consider investing in AI-based NDR solutions, which Dragos’ marketing team reminds us can be very effective at picking out lateral movement and other abnormal traffic from your network, far more efficiently than log file analysis.”
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