• For the fourth year in a row, Egencia flight demand data verifies that New York is the most popular business travel destination globally, followed by London who last held the top spot in 2014, and Paris rounding out the top three.
• 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.
• Asia dominates the 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.

Bellevue, Wash. December 20, 2018 – Today, Egencia®, business travel from Expedia Group™, releases findings from a global study on flight demand for the 20 most traveled-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. 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. Shanghai, China’s pre-eminent commerce center, is the fourth most traveled-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 (15^th), Mumbai (17^th) and Seoul (20^th). The Middle East, South America, and North Africa also all have important global business hubs, with Dubai (11^th), São Paulo (18^th) and Casablanca (19^th).

In North America, Canadian cities performed well, with Toronto in fifth, outranking many major commercial centers in the US, including San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston. Montreal, Canada’s second largest city by population, is the 14^th 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.

“As business travel continues to grow, it’s never been more important for companies to have a traveler-friendly program that also provides unified global tools for travel managers to assist their travelers.”

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.

Egencia has created city guides featuring several of these top business travel destinations, accessible here.

About Egencia

Egencia, corporate travel from Expedia Group, is reimagining business travel management to make business travelers happier and corporate travel programs more successful.

Egencia offers more personalized experiences through curated access to the world’s most relevant travel options. Putting our customers at the center of everything we do, Egencia provides exceptional customer care and innovative travel manager tools to increase savings and compliance.

Egencia serves businesses large and small in more than 60 countries. Connect with us on egencia.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and see what we’re reimagining next on our blog.

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Media contacts Stefanie Fricke | Crafted PR | egenciaNA@craftedpr.com | (206) 399-7833 Suong Lawless | PR Manager, NA slawless@egencia.com  | (425) 688-2287