An average business trip to New York costs US$549 per day, making it the most expensive city for business travel among the major global destinations studied in a new report.
An Expert Market analysis of data from Business Travel News’ Corporate Travel Index found that five of the world’s ten most expensive business travel destinations are in the US, including New York, San Francisco (US$534 per day), Boston (US$511), Washington, DC (US$462), and Chicago (US$444).
The rankings factored in the cost of accommodations, taxis or car rental, and food. In New York, the most expensive component of business travel was the cost of a hotel room, which averages US$385 per night, the study found.
Bakersfield, California was the least expensive US business travel destination ranked, costing less than half per day (US$241) as a stay in New York.
Among non-US cities, Tokyo was the priciest at US$489 per night, followed by Zurich (US$472), London (US$469), Basel (US$443), and Geneva (US$432). The report noted that a taxi alone can cost US$133 in Tokyo.
Despite such costs, however, researchers have found an increase in mixed business/leisure trips, with millennial-age travellers especially interested in extending their business trips into the weekend or added days to experience their work destinations.
