Much of the discussion about business travel revolves around large corporations that have strict managed-travel policies. They require employees to book trips through sanctioned tools and at hotels and airlines that give corporations volume discounts.

In the first quarter, those corporations delivered significant gains for American Express Global Business Travel, the world’s largest travel-management company.

AmexGBT saw strength in transactions from global multinational corporations — tech companies in particular, with 30% growth. Other sectors turned in double-digit growth too, including pharmaceuticals, mining, energy and utilities.

But there was a downside: Small-