Are you traveling to Asia for work? This city is your most expensive business destination

Hong Kong has been named the most expensive place in Asia for business travelers for the second year in a row, according to a new report.

The latest ECA International daily rate research Countries ranked by cost of short trip expenses: four-star hotel rooms, meals, laundry, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, taxi rides, and incidentals.

The research is intended to help organizations anticipate the cost of business travel and short-term assignments, the data company said.

A business trip now costs an average of $520 per day in Hong Kong, which is also ranked the 16th most expensive place for business travel in the world.

That’s despite low demand from business travelers, as Hong Kong closely followed mainland China’s tough zero-covid policy. It was only at the end of 2022 that began to relax some of his restrictions.

“Hotel costs continue to account for the majority of the total cost of business travel, and despite lower occupancy levels in 2022, advertised room rates (in Hong Kong) did not drop significantly,” Lee Quane, Regional Director for Asia at ECA International. he told CNBC.

“This may be due to demand from local residents, while hotel properties may also have needed to maintain their room rates to cover additional costs associated with maintaining services during the covid-19 pandemic.“

The report is based on information collected in 2022, from 457 locations in more than 190 countries, ECA International said.

Singapore moved up one spot in the ECA International rankings, surpassing Tokyo to become the second most expensive city in Asia. to visit for business.

It is also ranked 19th globally.

A business trip to Singapore now costs an average of $515 a day, $34 more expensive than a year earlier, ECA International said.

He attributed the rising costs in Singapore to his “principles removal of travel restrictionscompared to other places in Asia, which caused an increase in the demand for trips to the city.

“The resulting increase in demand contributed to increases in hotel accommodation costs, while costs associated with other daily essentials…also increased at a faster rate than elsewhere in the region,” Quane said. .

Tokyo, which rose from the second to the third most expensive city in Asia, also saw a 5% increase in daily costs for business travelers in local currency.

“(However,) they were offset by the depreciation of the yen against the US dollar, which led to the drop of several cities in Japan in this year’s ranking,” Quane said.

“With average daily costs of $424 per day (in Tokyo), business travel to the city is now almost 20% cheaper than Hong Kong, which ranks first.”

Inflation in many parts of Asia has contributed to significant increases in business travel costs in local currency terms, ECA International said.

Sri Lanka, Laos and Pakistan saw the largest increase in traveler spending, according to the report.

For example, business travel expenses in Colombo, Sri Lanka, were 75% higher in local currency than the previous year, according to the report.

“This was mainly due to high inflation and currency depreciation, as some costs associated with business travel… foreign business travelers generally incur US dollars here.”

But not all Asian destinations experienced the same increase in travel costs.

Popular tourist destinations, for example, saw “relatively small changes” in travel spending last year, ECA International said.

“Cities like Pattaya and Chiang Mai in Thailand, along with Denpasar in Indonesia, witnessed small growth rates in local currency terms in 2022, ranging from 1% to 3%,” Quane said.

That’s because lower demand in those destinations, compared to pre-pandemic levels, has suppressed hotel rates.

“Even a tourist hub like Bangkok, which normally sees a lot of business travelers, only saw a moderate 4% increase in business travel costs,” added Quane.

Singapore, by contrast, saw a 10% increase in daily business travel costs in local currency terms.

For yet another year, New York received the dubious honor of being the most expensive place in the world for business travelers.

The average daily cost of a business trip in New York is now $796, according to the report.

Travel costs have “recovered strongly” in New York over the past year, thanks to a “post-pandemic surge” in demand for business travel and tourism, Quane said.

Coupled with “inflation-driven price increases for goods” commonly consumed by business travelers, travel costs rose a marked 8%, it added.

Other US cities also dominated the global top 10 list, including Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Three European destinations make the list, and Switzerland remains home to the region’s two most expensive cities for business travel.