More than 300 corporate-travel buyers, TMC executives and HR mobility specialists gathered at Zurich’s Mama Shelter hotel on 26 February 2026 for the 18th Swiss Travel Management Forum (STMF). Organised by industry journal aboutTravel, the one-day conference has become the German-speaking market’s bell-wether for shifting priorities in managed travel. Top of the agenda this year was the imminent full roll-out of the EU Entry/Exit System on 10 April. Speakers from the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) walked participants through expected queue impacts at Zurich, Geneva and Basel airports and urged companies to pre-enrol frequent visitors’ biometrics where possible.
![Travel buyers converge on Zurich for 18th Swiss Travel Management Forum, focus on EES and sustainable itineraries]()
VisaHQ can simplify this new compliance landscape: its online platform lets travel managers arrange Schengen visas, schedule biometric-enrolment appointments and track employees’ 90/180-day stays in real time, all from a single dashboard—see https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/ for details.
Kuoni Business Travel’s CEO Roland Birchmeier predicted a “three-month bedding-in period” of longer processing times and advised corporates to build 30-minute buffers into schedules. A parallel track focused on new supplier carbon-reporting standards entering into force under Switzerland’s revised CO₂ Act. Swiss Re’s head of travel management detailed how the reinsurer now issues employees with a personal ‘carbon budget’ that resets quarterly, linking approvals for long-haul trips to forecasted emissions. Start-ups showcased AI tools that stitch rail and air segments into door-to-door itineraries while flagging lowest-emission options in real time. Delegates also debated how remote-work policies intersect with Schengen visa rules and permanent-establishment risk. Tax advisers cautioned that granting staff more than 90 days per 180 in an EU country could trigger corporate-tax exposure even if work is largely virtual. The forum concluded with a consensus that 2026 will be the year “mobility meets compliance”: success will hinge on integrating immigration, tax and sustainability data into trip-approval workflows rather than treating them as sequential checks.
VisaHQ can simplify this new compliance landscape: its online platform lets travel managers arrange Schengen visas, schedule biometric-enrolment appointments and track employees’ 90/180-day stays in real time, all from a single dashboard—see https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/ for details.
Kuoni Business Travel’s CEO Roland Birchmeier predicted a “three-month bedding-in period” of longer processing times and advised corporates to build 30-minute buffers into schedules. A parallel track focused on new supplier carbon-reporting standards entering into force under Switzerland’s revised CO₂ Act. Swiss Re’s head of travel management detailed how the reinsurer now issues employees with a personal ‘carbon budget’ that resets quarterly, linking approvals for long-haul trips to forecasted emissions. Start-ups showcased AI tools that stitch rail and air segments into door-to-door itineraries while flagging lowest-emission options in real time. Delegates also debated how remote-work policies intersect with Schengen visa rules and permanent-establishment risk. Tax advisers cautioned that granting staff more than 90 days per 180 in an EU country could trigger corporate-tax exposure even if work is largely virtual. The forum concluded with a consensus that 2026 will be the year “mobility meets compliance”: success will hinge on integrating immigration, tax and sustainability data into trip-approval workflows rather than treating them as sequential checks.
