US business travellers have a thing for Australia

Cropped shot of a young businesswoman working late on a digital tablet in an office

More business travellers beyond the Asia Pacific region are coming down under from the United States, new research tells us.

According to data from American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), a massive six of the top 10 cities – excluding APAC – where business travellers originate are US cities.

Australia’s strong business ties to the US, particularly San Francisco and New York, are clearly alive and kicking, while in addition, a weaker Australian dollar certainly doesn’t hurt in increasing tourism to Australia.

The travel destination data, which encompasses all air bookings made globally through American Express GBT between March 2016 and February 2017 for travel to Australia, provides a pretty in-depth snapshot of business travel flows into the country.

Singapore remains the top city of origin within Asia Pacific, and London outside the region. Singapore, Auckland and Hong Kong rank as the top three origins for business travel, matching up perfectly with where outbound Aussie business travellers are heading.

“Amidst all the commentary regarding the impact of US and UK politics and changes in regulations, there has not been a noticeable impact on business travel between the U.S and Australia,” said Jo Sully, Vice President and General Manager, American Express GBT, Australia.

“Considering the high number of multinational organisations operating in Australia, the need for travel between the U.S. and Australia is unlikely to be affected in any meaningful way in the immediate future.

“We have, however, seen a greater demand for up-to-the-minute information from companies as they navigate through changing regulations and policies”.

“That being said, it will be interesting to see how current global political conditions impact international business travel related to meetings and events.

“When large groups are required to travel for a conference or other large-scale event, issues such as the recent travel bans and electronic devices bans in the US may drive people to consider alternative destinations.

“If Australia continues to position itself as a welcome destination for business travellers, there is scope for us to benefit from a rise in meetings and events spend and business traveller tourism dollars.”

So let’s break it down a bit more:

Asia Pacific remains the focus

Cities within APAC make up the majority of the top ten visiting Australia for business, with proximity playing a factor – for obvious reasons. Everyone knows flights to everywhere else in the world take about 10 thousand hours.

However, London is ranked highest when it comes to destinations outside of APAC, followed by New York.

New Zealand and Australia maintain traditional business links, with particular demand coming from the technology, services and consulting sectors. These sectors also feature heavily in travel between Australia and Hong Kong, in addition to the financial services sector.

Top 10 international cities visiting Australia for business

1	SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
2	AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
3	HONG KONG, CHINA
4	LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
5	TOKYO, JAPAN
6	NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
7	BANGKOK, THAILAND
8	SHANGHAI, CHINA
9	KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
10	WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

US to Australia business ties remain strong

North American cities dominate the top 10 rankings beyond Asia Pacific, with New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco the top three U.S. cities visiting Australia.

London, Paris, Amsterdam and Dubai comprise the remaining cities in the top 10 outside of Asia Pacific.

Top 10 international cities visiting Australia for business excluding APAC

1	LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
2	NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
3	LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES
4	SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES
5	PARIS, FRANCE
6	HOUSTON, UNITED STATES
7	CHICAGO, UNITED STATES
8	AMSTERDAM, NETHERLAND
9	DALLAS, UNITED STATES
10	DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Singapore leads Asia Pacific

Consistent with the outbound business travel data from Australia, Singapore, Auckland and Hong Kong remain unchanged as the top three cities for inbound business travel.

Shanghai is ranked sixth for business travel to Australia, however since China has become the biggest business travel country in the world, it is likely that international travel spend will rise which could positively affect its place in future rankings.

Top 10 APAC cities visiting Oz for business

1	SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
2	AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
3	HONG KONG, CHINA
4	TOKYO, JAPAN
5	BANGKOK, THAILAND
6	SHANGHAI, CHINA
7	KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
8	WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
9	DELHI, INDIA
10	BANGALORE, INDIA

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

@australia American Express Global Business Travel business traveller