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London falls out of top 10 most expensive business travel destinations thanks to stronger euro

All UK locations on list dropped down the rankings, with Aberdeen seeing a particularly marked fall, while Monaco, Basel and Paris became pricier

Ben Chapman
Tuesday 17 April 2018 00:01 BST
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Monaco is one of three European cities to become more expensive than London for business travellers in the past year
Monaco is one of three European cities to become more expensive than London for business travellers in the past year (Getty Images)

London has fallen out of the top ten most expensive cities in the world for business travel, thanks to a strengthening euro, new research has found.

The UK capital was overtaken by Monaco, Basel and Paris this year, dragging it down to sixth place in Europe from third the year before.

All of the UK locations included in the list compiled by data and software company ECA International dropped down the rankings.

Aberdeen fell from 13th to 39th in the European rankings in two years, partly due to a downturn caused by lower oil and gas prices.

Simon Franklin, daily rates manager at ECA International said: “Whilst the price of business travel to London has remained relatively static over the past few years, the strong performance of the euro in the past year has seen costs in other cities such as Paris and Monaco overtake the UK capital.

The researchers calculated the average costs for hotel accommodation, meals, drinks, laundry, taxis and daily essentials.

New York remained the most expensive business travel destination in the world, while Geneva was the most expensive in Europe for the fourth year in a row, as Swiss cities dominated the top ten.

On average, the total cost of a standard business trip to Geneva was £554 per day, compared to £448 in London, according to the research.

“Swiss cities once again dominate the most expensive places for business trips in Europe, with five different locations in the top ten,” said Mr Franklin.

“Switzerland has always been an expensive nation for business travel, and this year is no different as the Swiss franc has performed very strongly.

Top 10 most expensive cities for business travel

  1. New York, USA

  2. Geneva, Switzerland

  3. Zurich, Switzerland

  4. Luanda, Angola

  5. Bridgetown, Barbados

  6. Paris, France,

  7. Nassau, Bahamas

  8. Washington DC, USA

  9. Basel, Switzerland

  10. Monaco

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