London drops from list of top ten most expensive cities for business travel

London has dropped out of the top ten most expensive business travel locations in the world as Geneva, once again, takes pole position as the priciest European destination for work-related tourism for a fourth consecutive year.

Geneva reclaimed the title of "most expensive city" in Europe, with several other Swiss cities rounding out the top ten, according to research by global mobility experts, ECA International, with the total cost of a standard business trip to Geneva coming in at £554 a day on average, versus £448 in London.

"Swiss cities once again dominate the most expensive places for business trips in Europe, with five different locations in the top ten," said Simon Franklin, ECA's daily rates manager.

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

London, like the other UK locations included in the list, dropped in the rankings and right out of the top ten most expensive locations in the world for business travel, overtaken by Monaco, Basel and Paris.

London is now also in sixth place in Europe, down from third the year before.

"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 cost of business travel in the UK overall has continued to fall, with every surveyed UK location seeing a drop in the table," Franklin said.

New York City is the only location in the world more expensive for business travel than Geneva, with an average business trip to the Big Apple costing £611 per day.

Franklin said, "The high demand for hotels in New York is reflected in the premium rate that rooms are currently charged at; averaging £392 per night at a 4-star hotel. The high cost of hotels and transport, as well as mandatory 15-20% tipping policies during meals out, contribute to the US city being the most expensive in the world for business travel."

ECA's daily rates report reviews the average costs for hotel accommodation, which makes up the bulk of any daily allowance, as well as the median cost of meals, drinks, laundry, taxi transport and daily essentials, which allows companies to determine daily expense budgets for staff undertaking international business travel.