BTN’s Corporate Travel Index updates quarter-over-quarter
movement in business travel per diem costs in 200 cities around the globe. The
index blends corporate travel agency-booked hotel and rental car rates in the
U.S. with annually sourced meal-cost data. For global regions, it blends
quarterly sourced agency-booked hotel rates with annually sourced meal-cost
data and taxi data.
For the final quarter of 2024, corporate travel per diem
increases, on average in each region, looked to moderate, compared to a slight
overall rise across 2024 as a whole. In some regions per-day costs dropped quarter
over quarter, but not significantly, and mostly due to slightly falling hotel
rates in the cities BTN indexes in the region.
United States: Flat
Per Diem: $347
Avg Daily Hotel: $200
Avg Daily Car Rental: $50
Avg Daily Meals (3x): $97
Corporate Travel Index data shows rates in the United States
for business trips stayed flat in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to Q3.
Warm weather destinations like Sarasota, Tampa, and Miami Fla.; Phoenix and
Tucson, Ariz. and Las Vegas saw some of the highest increases. They ranged from
around 12 percent increases in Tucson to a nearly 19 percent rise in Tampa and
Miami.
New York, which has experienced demand hikes and high hotel occupancy
rates throughout 2024, according to hotel analytics firm STR, showed its annual
holiday spirit in Q4 with a 13 percent increase in per diems, pushing daily
costs to $670, the most expensive city in the U.S. (and the world) for business
travel. Boston, another business beltway, however, saw a 13 percent decrease in
its per diem. That said, Beantown at $490 a day landed at No. 2 behind New York
in terms of cost indexing U.S. cities. Seattle, Wash. (-16 percent), Milwaukie,
Wis. (-14 percent), Nashville (-11 percent) San Diego (-10 percent) also
experienced some significant corporate travel cost decreases in the fourth
quarter.
The Americas: (-1.48%)
Per Diem: USD$288
Avg Daily Hotel: $163
Avg Taxi from Airport to City Center: $26
Avg Daily Meals (3x): $99
The Americas region for Corporate Travel Index includes
cities as diverse as Toronto, Canada; Sao Paulo, Brazil and Guayaquil, Ecuador.
As a result, averages can be deceiving and it’s good to check out the CTI
Calculator to map your own company’s travel patterns against actual cities where
travelers are doing business.
That said, across the Americas, San Juan, Puerto Rico shot
up in the pricing rankings in Q4 likely due to holidaymakers driving up
occupancy rates during fall breaks from school and the Christmas and New Year
holidays. The city’s business travel per diems rose 24 percent compared to the
previous quarter, landing it at No. 7 across all global cities tracked in the
index. Montreal and Toronto, Canada ranked 25th and 28th
respectively. Per diems in Montreal rose nearly 12 percent, according the index,
while Toronto’s fell about 5 percent. Costs in some Latin American cities were
on the rise, with Buenos Aires, Argentina, up more than 7 percent quarter over
quarter and San Salvador up more than 6 percent. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil,
however, fell almost 10 percent quarter over quarter. Mexico City fell 9
percent, while other cities experienced more muted decreases or were ostensibly
flat.
Europe: (-2.79%)
Per Diem: USD$360
Avg Daily Hotel: $182
Avg Taxi from Airport to City Center: $48
Avg Daily Meals (3x): $130
Business travel to Europe remains pricier than any other global
region, with a per diem hitting $360 on average, but ranging from a low around
$200 in both Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, to two of the most expensive cities
in the world for business travel: London at about $600 per day (+1.6 percent
quarter over quarter) and Zurich at $555 (-6.8percent quarter over quarter). Costs
for another Swiss city also declined—Geneva came down by -6.3 percent), but
both Swiss cities remained in the top five most expensive in the world. Paris gained
(+10 percent) over Q3 as did Milan (+3 percent). Those cities rounded out the
top five for non-U.S. cities. Only New York cost more BTN’s U.S. cities index. Business
travel per diems in Milan rose 10 percent, landing that city at No. 8 on the overall
list, and at No. 6 if only looking at Europe.
Geopolitical friction and war continue to impact eastern
European countries, Russia and Ukraine. Moscow’s business travel per diems fell
by more than 20 percent between quarter three and four last year. Ukraine was
down nearly 14 percent.
Middle East & Africa: +4.18%
Per Diem: USD$316
Avg Daily Hotel: $182
Avg Taxi from Airport to City Center: $24
Avg Daily Meals (3x): $110
Business travel costs are rising in the Middle East &
Africa, according to corporate travel booking data for hotels and market data
for ground transportation. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and Lagos, Nigeria saw
30 percent and 20 percent increases in business travel costs from Q3 to Q4. Riyadh,
Saudia Arabia was the most expensive city across all Middle Eastern and African
cities in the 2024 Q4 BTN index, tracking on average at $430 per day. Abu Dhabi
was the second-highest-cost city in the region at $415.
Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa were among the most
affordable cities indexed in MEA at $245 and $234 per day, respectively. Cairo,
Egypt was the lowest ranked city for per diem business travel costs in the region,
at No. 99 globally. Cairo, however, ranked No. 3 for its level of traveler risk
among all global cities indexed by BTN. A clear trend when looking at higher
cost cities globally versus those in the bottom half of the list, risk scores
increased conversely to price. Of course, there were exceptions to that rule. Riyadh
and—outside MEA, Puerto Rico—are two cities that bucked that trend in Q4.
Asia Pacific +1.78%
Per Diem: USD$299
Avg Daily Hotel: $151
Avg Taxi from Airport to City Center: $27
Avg Daily Meals (3x): $121
Japanese and Australian cities largely saw increases in
business travel per diems in Q4 2024 between 2 percent and 8 percent. Tokyo was
the most expensive city for business travelers in APAC (ranked No. 6 globally)
in the final quarter of the year at $480 per day, but its sequential increase
over Q3 costs was less than 3 percent. Osaka-Kobe rose more than 7 percent to
reach $395 per day for business travelers and ranked at No. 29. Melbourne ($346)
and Sydney ($356) both saw pricing increases for business travel, at about 7.5
percent and 3.5 percent, respectively. Business travel prices in Aukland, New Zealand
rose more than 7 percent as well.
Hong Kong ranked No. 10 globally at $429 for daily costs. That
represented a nearly 7 percent increase over Q3. Mainland Chinese cities were
mixed, with Beijing basically flat at $268, but Shanghai up nearly 4 percent. Secondary
cities like Guangzhou and Shenzhen were down, 8 percent and nearly 12 percent,
respectively.
Southeast Asian cities were largely down: Jakarta, Indonesia;
Kuala Lumpur, Maylaysia; Hanoi, Vietnam; Manila, Philippines all experienced
pricing decreases for business travel pillars, ranging from about 5 percent to
nearly 14 percent.
India was mixed, with Bangalore up just under 3 percent,
Mumbai down 10 percent and New Delhi up more than 16 percent over the previous
quarter.
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For the purposes of this roundup, BTN calculated averages based on upper-upscale, upscale and midscale hotel data; compact, midsize and full-size rental cars, and three daily meals. The Corporate Travel Index Calculator has more extended hotel and car rental service tiers that you may filter based on your needs. And you may select relevant meals. Explore the options and export your own benchmarking reports. Corporate Travel Index data is sourced from Advito, HRS, Prime Numbers and GeoSure. BTN partners with Videc Consulting for annual meal data.