– Data shows top 10 most-booked destinations within Australia domestically, the Asia Pacific region and globally –
Sydney, AUSTRALIA, 20 July 2015 – Australian business travellers are most frequently travelling to cities in the United States (US) when travelling outside of Asia Pacific (APAC), according to data from American Express Global Business Travel (GBT). The strengthening US economy appears to be driving an influx of business travellers to many key US cities, with seven out of the top ten international locations beyond Asia Pacific being located in the US.
Encompassing all air bookings made directly with GBT for Australian-based travellers between March 2014 and April 2015, the travel destinations report provides a snapshot of business travel flows within, and from, Australia. Sydney, Singapore and London emerge as the top destinations for domestic, APAC, and international business travel outside APAC, respectively. Singapore, Auckland and Hong Kong emerge as the top three international destinations, highlighting the dominance of regional centres for Australian business.
“Singapore remains the leading business hub of Asia-Pacific, and with many large corporations having headquarters there, and we anticipate that it will remain a top international destination for Australian business travellers for some time to come,” said David Reimer, General Manager, American Express Global Business Travel, APAC.
“The biggest change over the last twelve months is the growing dominance of the US as a priority market for business travel beyond APAC. While US cities comprised less than half of the top ten in 2013-2014, we’ve now seen that number increase to seven out of the top ten this year. This indicates the growing importance of the US to Australian businesses.”
Asia remains the focus
When looking at the rankings for total international business travel from Australia, countries within Asia remain the primary focus. London is the highest ranked destination outside of Asia, followed by New York. The top five rankings remain unchanged from the previous year, however The Philippines is a new listing to this year’s top ten rankings, coming in at ninth.
| Top 10 total international destinations including APAC | |
| Rank | Destination |
| 1 | SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE |
| 2 | AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND |
| 3 | HONG KONG, CHINA |
| 4 | KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA |
| 5 | LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM |
| 6 | SHANGHAI, CHINA |
| 7 | TOKYO, JAPAN |
| 8 | NEW YORK, UNITED STATES |
| 9 | SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES |
| 10 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES |
Source: American Express Global Business Travel AUS point of sale data destination analysis for April 2014 – March 2015.
US dominates outside of APAC
North America has become an increasingly attractive destination for Australian business travellers over the last two years. Five out of the top ten business travel destinations outside APAC in 2013-2014 were North America cities, and this year that number has risen to seven out of the top ten cities. London maintains a strong lead on its number one ranking outside of Asia Pacific, however the UK, Germany and Netherlands are the only European nations to make the top ten rankings. Paris, previously in the top 10, dropped out of this year’s rankings.
| Top 10 international destinations excluding APAC | |
| Rank | Destination |
| 1 | LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM |
| 2 | NEW YORK, UNITED STATES |
| 3 | SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES |
| 4 | LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES |
| 5 | HOUSTON, UNITED STATES |
| 6 | AMSTERDAM, NETHERLAND |
| 7 | CHICAGO, UNITED STATES |
| 8 | DALLAS, UNITED STATES |
| 9 | FRANKFURT, GERMANY |
| 10 | ORLANDO, UNITED STATES |
Source: American Express Global Business Travel AUS point of sale data destination analysis for April 2014 – March 2015
Singpore leads Asia Pacific
Singapore remains the top APAC business travel destination for Australian business travellers, followed by Auckland and Hong Kong. As New Zealand’s financial centre, Auckland remains an important destination for many global technology, pharmaceutical, and professional services companies, headquartered in Australia but with operations in New Zealand.
Bangkok has dropped out of the top ten this year, most likely as a result of the political unrest which occurred in the country in 2014. While Seoul was not included in the top ten rankings for 2013-2014, it is ranked at eighth in this year, suggesting it’s continued emergence as a technology hub in Asia and globally.
| Top 10 APAC destinations | |
| Rank | Destination |
| 1 | SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE |
| 2 | AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND |
| 3 | HONG KONG, CHINA |
| 4 | KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA |
| 5 | SHANGHAI, CHINA |
| 6 | TOKYO, JAPAN |
| 7 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES |
| 8 | SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA |
| 9 | JAKARTA, INDONESIA |
| 10 | BEIJING, CHINA |
Source: American Express Global Business Travel AUS point of sale data destination analysis for April 2014 – March 2015.
Sydney remains number one
The most-booked domestic destination for Australian business travellers was, unsurprisingly, Sydney, followed by Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth. These rankings are consistent with rankings from 2013-2014.
| 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 | MT ISA, AUSTRALIA |
| 9 | PORT HEDLAND, AUSTRALIA |
| 10 | MORANBAH, AUSTRALIA |
Source: American Express Global Business Travel AUS point of sale data destination analysis for April 2014 – March 2015.
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 2014 – March 2015.
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 140 countries worldwide with approximately 14,000 employees. American Express Global Business Travel ranked first among corporate travel providers in the 2014 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 www.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com.
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.
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American Express Global Business Travel
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