The Asian Cities With The Highest Business Costs

According to the most recent study conducted by ECA International, nations were rated based on the average cost of four-star hotel rooms, meals, laundry, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, taxi rides, and other fees incurred during short trips. The analytics firm claims its study will benefit businesses in planning for the financial impact of business travel and temporary employee placements.

Hong Kong is the 16th most expensive place in the world for business travel, with average daily expenditures of $520. It did so despite weak demand from business visitors since Hong Kong adopted mainland China's strict zero-Covid policy. It wasn't until late in the year 2022 that a few of the rules were loosened.

In spite of decreased occupancy levels in 2022, advertised room prices in the city did not decline considerably, according to Lee Quane, regional director for Asia at ECA International, who spoke with CNBC. This may have been because of demand from locals, and hotels may have required to keep room prices steady to pay the extra expenses of sustaining services during the Covid-19 outbreak.

According to ECA International, the research is based on data gathered in 2022 from 457 sites across more than 190 nations.

It is now $34 more costly than it was a year ago to take a business trip to Singapore, with the average cost per day coming in at $515, as reported by the study authors.

According to the report, Singapore's "early lifting of travel restrictions" relative to other Asian destinations prompted an increase in demand for travel to the city, driving up prices. The consequent increase in demand led to hikes in hotel accommodation rates. Costs linked with other daily requirements likewise climbed at a higher pace than other areas in the region.

The cost of living for business visitors in Tokyo increased by 5% in local currency terms, dropping the city from second to third most expensive in Asia.

Some cities around Japan fell in this year's rankings as a result of the yen's weakening versus the US dollar.

Business trips to Tokyo are now over 20% cheaper than those to Hong Kong, with average daily expenditures of $424.

According to ECA International, large rises in business travel expenditures in local currency terms may be attributed to inflation in several places throughout Asia.

The highest increases in cost were seen in Sri Lanka, Laos, and Pakistan.

In Colombo, Sri Lanka, for instance, the cost of business travel rose by 75% in local currency terms compared to the previous year.

Nevertheless, this increase in cost of travel is not shared by all Asian locations.

For example, ECA International reported "very little change" in travel costs to popular tourist locations in the last year. Cities like Pattaya and Chiang Mai in Thailand, along with Denpasar in Indonesia, all showed minor rates of increase in local currency terms in 2022, with the range sitting at 1%-3%. Since hotel demand is lower now than it was before the outbreak, prices have dropped.

Even in a popular tourist destination like Bangkok, which sees a high volume of business visitors, the average cost of a business trip rose by just 4%, the research pointed out.

The most expensive city in the world

New York has once again been named the most costly city in the world for business visitors.

According to the study, the current going rate for a day's worth of business travel in New York is $796, as the city' s travel prices have "rebounded significantly" over the last year as a result of a "post-pandemic increase" in demand for both business and leisure travel. Travel expenses increased by an alarming 8%, in addition to the "inflation-driven price spikes on commodities" regularly purchased by business travellers.

Cities like Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles also topped the worldwide top 10 list.

 

Source: cnbc.com