Bellevue, Wash.—Egencia today released findings from a global study on flight demand for the 20 most traveled-to cities for business travel. For the fourth year in a row, its flight demand data shows that New York is the most popular business travel destination globally, followed by London, which last held the top spot in 2014, and Paris rounding out the top three.
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. Paris has solidified its status as a European business hub, with air travel to the French capital increasing by more than 20 percent from January 1, 2018, to December 1, 2018.
Shanghai, China’s pre-eminent commerce center, is the fourth-most-traveled-to business destination internationally this year. Asia dominates this year’s rankings with four cities in the top 10 this year, and seven within the top 20, including the reemergence of Seoul, which had fallen out of the rankings last year. Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo ranked sixth, eighth, and ninth respectively, and Beijing (15th), Mumbai (17th), and Seoul (20th).
The Middle East, South America, and North Africa also all have important global business hubs: Dubai (11th), Sao Paulo (18th), and Casablanca (19th).
In North America, Canadian cities performed well, with Toronto in fifth, outranking many major commercial centers in the United States, including San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston. Montreal, Canada’s second largest city by population, is the 14th most traveled to destination for business travelers across the globe.
Between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2018, total business travel flight bookings increased globally by nearly 110 percent. During the same period, flight bookings for New York increased by more than 120 percent, for London by nearly 80 percent, and for Paris by nearly 120 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.
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 traveled-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
