– Data shows top 10 most-booked destinations within Australia domestically, the Asia Pacific region and globally –
Sydney, AUSTRALIA, 6 JUNE 2016 – Australian business travellers are most frequently travelling to San Francisco when heading to the United States, according to data from American Express Global Business Travel (GBT).
Strong links between Australia’s technology sector and Silicon Valley, as well as improved airline connectivity, appear to be driving an increase in business travel to San Francisco which has overtaken New York as the top US business destination for Australians. The United States remains one of the most popular countries for business travel from Australia, with six out of the top ten destinations outside of Asia Pacific comprising US cities.
Encompassing all air bookings made directly with GBT for Australian-based travellers between March 2015 to April 2016, the travel destinations data provides a snapshot of business travel flows within, and from, Australia. Sydney, Singapore and London remain the top destinations for domestic, Asia Pacific and international business travel outside Asia Pacific, respectively. Singapore, Auckland and Hong Kong have also maintained their dominance as the top three international destinations overall, highlighting the significance of regional centres for Australian businesses.
“While we haven’t seen movement across our top three international destinations for Australian business travellers, we have noticed a decline in business travel to China over the past twelve months,” said Jo Sully, Vice President and General Manager, American Express Global Business Travel, Australia. “Shanghai has fallen from sixth to tenth in the overall international rankings, and Beijing has dropped off the rankings entirely.”
“Despite recent reports that China has overtaken the US as the world’s largest business travel market, the Chinese travel market continues to be dominated by domestic travel. The decline in Australian business travel to China is likely to be heavily influenced by the slowdown in the Chinese economy and a wane in their demand for Australian resources.”
“It’s great to see that Bangkok has returned to this year’s list as the fourth most popular destination. Bangkok was a top business travel destination for Australians during 2013-2014, however, it dropped out of our rankings last year, indicating that political unrest in Thailand had a clear impact on its attractiveness as a business travel destination over this period.”
Asia-Pacific remains the focus
Cities within Asia-Pacific continue to dominate the ranking for Australian business travellers. London maintains its position as the highest ranked destination outside of Asia-Pacfic, followed by San Francisco and New York. Bangkok has returned to the rankings in fourth position following a year of absence.
| Top 10 total international destinations including APAC | |
| Rank | Destination |
| 1 | SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE |
| 2 | AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND |
| 3 | HONG KONG, CHINA |
| 4 | BANGKOK, THAILAND |
| 5 | LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM |
| 6 | KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA |
| 7 | TOKYO, JAPAN |
| 8 | SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES |
| 9 | NEW YORK, UNITED STATES |
| 10 | SHANGHAI, CHINA |
Source: American Express Global Business Travel AUS point of sale data destination analysis for April 2015 – March 2016.
US cities remain favoured beyond APAC
North American cities continue to dominate the top ten rankings beyond Asia-Pacific, however this dominance has weakened slightly, with six US cities making this year’s list in comparison to seven for the previous year. London remains the top business travel destination for Australian business travellers outside of Asia-Pacific, while Dubai replaces Orlando in this year’s top ten rankings.
| Top 10 international destinations excluding APAC | |
| Rank | Destination |
| 1 | LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM |
| 2 | SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES |
| 3 | NEW YORK, UNITED STATES |
| 4 | LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES |
| 5 | DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES |
| 6 | HOUSTON, UNITED STATES |
| 7 | AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS |
| 8 | CHICAGO, UNITED STATES |
| 9 | PARIS, FRANCE |
| 10 | DALLAS, UNITED STATES |
Source: American Express Global Business Travel AUS point of sale data destination analysis for April 2015 – March 2016
Singpore leads Asia Pacific
Singapore, Auckland, and Hong Kong remain unchanged as the top three business travel destination within Asia-Pacific, and globally. Bangkok’s return to the rankings in fourth position highlights a returned confidence in the city following a brief period of political unrest, while the declining popularity of China as a business travel destination continues to be linked to the economic performance of the country.
| Top 10 APAC destinations | |
| Rank | Destination |
| 1 | SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE |
| 2 | AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND |
| 3 | HONG KONG, CHINA |
| 4 | BANGKOK, THAILAND |
| 5 | KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA |
| 6 | TOKYO, JAPAN |
| 7 | SHANGHAI, CHINA |
| 8 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES |
| 9 | SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA |
| 10 | JAKARTA, INDONESIA |
Source: American Express Global Business Travel AUS point of sale data destination analysis for April 2015 – March 2016.
Sydney stays on top
The top seven most-booked domestic destinations for Australian business travellers remain unchanged, with Sydney taking top position. Completing the top ten domestic destinations are Newcastle, Gold Coast, and Cairns, which have replaced Mount Isa, Port Hedland, and Moranbah following a downturn within the resources sector.
| Top 10 domestic destinations | |
| Rank | Destination |
| 1 | SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA |
| 2 | MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA |
| 3 | BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA |
| 4 | PERTH, AUSTRALIA |
| 5 | ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA |
| 6 | CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA |
| 7 | DARWIN, AUSTRALIA |
| 8 | NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA |
| 9 | GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA |
| 10 | CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA |
Source: American Express Global Business Travel AUS point of sale data destination analysis for April 2015 – March 2016.
Notes to editors
The data presented here, provided by American Express Global Business Travel Global Business Consulting, is based on actual bookings through American Express Global Business Travel between between April 2015 – March 2016.
About American Express Global Business Travel
American Express Global Business Travel enables corporations and empowers business travelers with insights, connections and exceptional customer service on a global scale. Through technology and information, American Express Global Business Travel provides leading travel solutions, integrated consulting services, proprietary research, and end-to-end meetings and events capabilities. These innovative offerings enable clients to optimize the return on their travel and meetings investments.
American Express Global Business Travel has operations and network partners in nearly 120 countries worldwide with approximately 12,000 employees. American Express Global Business Travel ranked first among corporate travel providers in the 2015 Corporate Travel 100 (“CT100”), an annual listing compiled by Business Travel News which ranks companies with the largest volume of U.S. air bookings. Learn more about how American Express Global Business Travel connects the world at amexglobalbusinesstravel.com and twitter.com/amexgbt.
American Express Global Business Travel (“GBT”) is a joint venture that is not wholly-owned by American Express Company or any of its subsidiaries (“American Express”). “American Express Global Business Travel”, “American Express” and the American Express logo are trademarks of American Express, and are used under limited license.
Media Contacts:
Sarah Blades
American Express Global Business Travel
+61 2 9271 1467
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Andrew Hamilton
Mana Communications
+44 (0) 7528 378 114
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