Singapore proves it is a major regional business hub with a huge increase in global air travel to and from the city-state over the last five years.
SINGAPORE — Egencia, business travel from Expedia Group, released findings from a global study on flight demand for the 20 most travelled-to cities for business travel.
New York continues to outpace London as the most popular business travel destination globally, as it tops the list for the fourth consecutive year. London last held the top ranking in 2014 before being overtaken by the Big Apple the following year. New York’s dominance is likely to continue, as Egencia flight data shows that business trip flight bookings to New York were nearly 10 percent higher than bookings to London in 2018.
Shanghai, China’s pre-eminent commerce centre, is the fourth most travelled-to business travel destination internationally this year. Asia overall dominated the top 20, with Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo ranking sixth, eighth and ninth respectively, and Beijing (15th), Mumbai (17th) and Seoul (20th).
Europe represents two of the top three business destinations, with Paris coming in third globally as the city continues to establish itself as a popular regional business hub. From 2016-2018, Egencia data shows that air travel to the French capital experienced 20 percent growth. London (second) and Paris (third) were the only two European cities to place in the top 20 global business destinations for 2018.
In North America, Canadian cities performed well, with Toronto in fifth, outranking many major commercial centres in the U.S., including San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston.
Between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2018, total business travel flight bookings increased globally by nearly 110 percent. Meanwhile, Singapore saw the largest increase in flight bookings globally – air travel to and from the destination increased by nearly 160 percent over roughly five years.
“While U.S. and European cities retain the top three spots, the most interesting takeaway is how global business travel has truly become with five of seven continents represented in the top 20 destinations,” said Andrew Dyer, Vice President of Global Supply at Egencia brand. “As business travel continues to grow, it’s never been more important for companies to have a traveller-friendly program that also provides unified global tools for travel managers to assist their travellers.”
The Egencia data captures flight booking and reservation trends from small, mid-cap and multinational companies in more than 60 countries between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2018. The complete list of 20 most travelled-to destinations is as follows.
- New York
- London
- Paris
- Shanghai
- Toronto
- Singapore
- San Francisco
- Hong Kong
- Tokyo
- Chicago
- Dubai
- Mexico City
- Boston
- Montreal
- Beijing
- Los Angeles
- Mumbai
- Sao Paulo
- Casablanca
- Seoul
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
