- Average daily hotel cost: $294
-
Average daily taxi cost: $150
-
Average daily dining cost: $156
-
Total cost change from Q3 2024: +1.6%
Negotiation Game: There's a reason why London is the
second-most expensive city of the 200 listed in BTN's Corporate Travel Index,
after New York: Demand remains stout, and even though more hotel rooms are
forecast to open in 2025 in London than in any other major European city, both
leisure and corporate demand is projected to rise too. While new hotel supply
could help limit the financial damage, don't expect a business trip to London
to be cheap.
The Approach: London has the highest average hotel
rates of any city outside of the United States in the Corporate Travel Index.
Bargains won't be easy to come by, but it might be worth using the services of
a travel management company or a hotel platform that could be able to find
properties at somewhat reasonable rates. Also, England's rail network is
extensive, so staying outside the city at a lower rate and riding in for
business is a plausible approach.
Keep in Mind: If your travelers are visiting the U.K.
from the United States or Europe, they'll need to apply for an electronic
travel authorization—"ETA"—to enter the country. First introduced
in 2023, the U.K. earlier
this year expanded the online pre-travel check requirement to travelers
from dozens of countries throughout the world.
What's Happening in London
London's travel market for the past few years has been marked
by strong inbound demand, robust hotel development, high rates and high
occupancy. And while forecasts suggested more of the same in 2025, some cracks
in the foundation might be beginning to show.
The United Kingdom as a whole has surpassed 2019 levels of
hotel occupancy, according to real estate data firm CoStar. Using a running
12-month count of occupancy through February 2025, CoStar measured U.K.
occupancy at 100 percent of pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
VisitBritain, the country's visitors bureau, in February
issued a forecast that total inbound travelers to the U.K.—including business,
leisure and convention travelers—would increase 5 percent year over year to
43.4 million, which would be the highest on record. They also noted business
travel remains below pre-pandemic levels, particularly non-convention corporate
travel.
In February, though, after a flat January, occupancy at
Greater London hotels dropped about 1 percentage point year over year to 73
percent, and average daily rate dropped 4 percent to £179, according to data
from VisitBritain and Amadeus. While one soft month in normal circumstances
might be worth little notice, as the
global economy becomes more tenuous and trade
wars heat up, it warrants a close eye.
For its part, consulting firm Advito in a March forecast projected
second-quarter U.K. best available rates to increase 3 percent year over year
but slip quarter over quarter.
Still, London's supply base is ready to expand. London is
slated to open in 2025 hotels with more than 5,600 rooms in total, according to
real estate data firm CoStar. That figure is far and away the highest in
Europe, with Istanbul (3,900) and Dublin (3,200) the closest.
Among the planned new openings are the Templeton Gardens in
Kensington, a 156-room property from lifestyle hotel brand Miiro; the arty 109-room Six Senses London; and The Newman, an 81-room boutique property
from Preferred Hotels & Resorts.
For the longer term, London also has the largest hotel
development pipeline in Europe, according to hospitality data firm Lodging
Econometrics, with 77 hotel projects totaling more than 14,800 rooms in
development.