The Most Expensive Cities for Business Travel
While the main intention for business travel is to do business and make money, ECA International has found that some cities aren’t very cost-effective for business travelers. Most Expensive Cities for Business Travel
Updated annually, ECA’s Daily Rates reports provide average costs for hotel accommodation, which makes up the bulk of any daily allowance, as well as meals, drinks, laundry, taxi transport and daily essentials. This information is used by companies to determine daily expense allowances for staff who undertake business travel.
New York City is the priciest destination in the world for business travelers, with ECA International estimating that the daily rates for business travelers are $799. That’s more expensive than Swiss cities like Geneva, which came in second at a $716 daily rate, and Zurich which came in third at $661.
Other U.S. cities included on the list were Washington D.C. ($621), San Francisco ($581) and Los Angeles ($578).
London re-entered the top ten ranking by ECA International, tying in tenth place with Bern.
Business travel in Switzerland still most expensive in Europe
Swiss cities dominate the top ten costliest locations in Europe for business travel with Geneva leading the rankings ahead of Zurich (2nd), Basel (5th) and Bern (6th). Hotels in Switzerland are also the most expensive on the continent with a four-star Geneva hotel costing GBP 292 a night on average, GBP 41 more expensive than London.
The most expensive cities and their average daily cost were found to be:
- New York, £618
- Geneva, £553
- Zurich, £511
- Washington DC, £481
- Paris, £477
- Reykjavik, £476
- San Francisco, £448
- Basel, £447
- Los Angeles, £446
- Bern/London, £444
The figures add up the average cost of hotel accommodation, meals, drinks, laundry, taxi journeys and daily essentials.
Within the UK, the top five were: Most Expensive Cities for Business Travel
- Central London, £444
- Edinburgh, £320
- Manchester, £282
- Glasgow, £258
- Cardiff, £254
Hong Kong remains the most expensive location in Asia for business travel
For the second successive year, Hong Kong has been ranked the most expensive location in Asia for business travel with the average business trip costing an overall total of GBP 398 (USD 515) per day, including hotel costs of GBP 221 (USD 286).
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Looking over the wider Asia Pacific area, Tokyo remains in second place with the typical business trip now costing USD 494 a day. Seoul is in third place based on the overall price of a business trip. However, if hotel costs are excluded, then the Korean capital moves above Tokyo into second place.
In China, the most expensive business trip destination is Shanghai, at USD 378 per day.
