By kitlum Last updated: March 17, 2024

Business Trip Vocabulary: 105 English Words and Phrases for Successful Travels

If you’re an English learner who will be taking international business trips, having the right vocabulary is crucial.

In this post, you’ll learn 105 useful English words and phrases to make your business trips go smoothly.

These terms can help you with things like getting to your destination, participating in business meetings and dining with your coworkers or clients.

Learning this vocabulary will make you feel more confident speaking English no matter where your work takes you.

Useful Business Trip Vocabulary
Traveling by Air
Getting Around in a New City
At the Hotel
In Business Meetings
At Business Meals

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Useful Business Trip Vocabulary

These vocabulary words and phrases will likely come in handy on your next business trip.

English	Italian
January	Gennaio
February	Febbraio
March	Marzo
April	Aprile
May	Maggio
June	Giugno
July	Luglio
August	Agosto
September	Settembre
October	Ottobre
November	Novembre
December	Dicembre

Traveling by Air

Here are some useful terms for traveling by plane for your business trip:

Infinitive	Past Tense	Past Participle
Awake	Awoke	Awoken
Drive	Drove	Driven
Fly	Flew	Flown
See	Saw	Seen
Take	Took	Taken
Forget	Forgot	Forgotten
Grow	Grew	Grown
Fall	Fell	Fallen
Sink	Sank	Sunk

Getting Around in a New City

When you arrive at your destination, you’ll have to find your way from the airport to the hotel or business venue (meeting place).

You’ll also have to figure out the most convenient mode of transportation: taxis, train, subway, bus, Uber, etc. Speak to locals or to your coworkers who live there and ask them for recommendations.

Here are some example questions you can use to help you get around a new city:

Specific	Measurable	Attainable	Relevant	Timely
I will understand 90% of the first "Harry Potter" novel without having to rely on a dictionary.	I will learn 20 words a day, using flashcards, from the most common 5,000 English words on Anki.	I will only need to look up between five and 10 English words per page in the first "Harry Potter" book.	I'm doing this because I want to be able to understand more of what I read in English (books, newspapers, online, etc.).	I want to read "Harry Potter" in English this time next year. I can do this by learning 20 words a day so that I can master 5,000 words in eight to nine months.

At the Hotel

It’s likely your company has made a hotel reservation (booking) for you ahead of your business trip.

Here are some example phrases that might be useful when talking to the receptionist at the hotel:

Word/Concept	American English	British English
Hospital	I was in the* hospital.*	I was in hospital.
Market	We went to the* market.*	We went to market.
Seasons	He wears warm clothes in the* winter.*	He wears warm clothes in winter.
Days	She went there on Monday.	She went there on the* Monday.*

In Business Meetings

Of course, the most important part of your trip is the time when you’ll be discussing business and accomplishing your professional goals.

In order to be successful, you’ll need to know some key vocabulary for business meetings.

Beginner user	Intermediate user
Can express simple ideas and take part in short conversations in a classroom environment.	Can express more advanced ideas and their own opinion in situations outside the classroom (for example when interacting with native speakers).
Hesitates and thinks about what they want to say for longer periods of time.	Has a certain fluency that allows them to speak more naturally without making so many pauses during their speech.
Has a limited vocabulary, which makes it difficult to talk about complex topics.	Has a good knowledge of vocabulary, and can express themselves easily on a wide range of abstract topics.
Knows very few tenses, and has a tendency to use the present simple mainly.	Knows almost every English tense and how/when each of them should be used.
Uses very short, simple sentences.	Uses longer sentences and knows how to join them to make the text/speech look like or sound more native-like.

At Business Meals

Lunches and dinners play an important part in making business deals, building business relationships and celebrating partnerships.

Whether you’re attending or hosting the business meal, it’s important to know how to handle the basics of dining with your business partners.

	Singular	Plural
Near	this	that
Far	these	those

If you pack this vocabulary guide, you won’t be caught speechless when you travel for work.

Good luck with your future business trips!