Brisbane: World's Most Expensive City for Business Travellers
For business travellers, Brisbane is the most expensive city in the world with Sydney, Perth and Melbourne also in the top 10 list of a study by Concur, an expense management group.
The average daily cost of travelling to Brisbane rose by 19.6 per cent to $US547.53 in 2012. Brisbane had a sharp increase in hotel costs amounting to $US300 a day, moving the city ahead of London and Tokyo.
According to Asia-Pacific head of Concur, Michael Eberhard, it was clear that tourism-related vendors in Brisbane had taken advantage of the energy and mining boom in 2012.
Brisbane is the most expensive city in terms of ground transportation and lodging. Mr. Eberhard said those two categories are usually in line with movement of supply and demand with high volatility.
Dining costs were found to be the most expensive in Sydney with an average of $US70.27 a day. However, Sydney's hotel costs were cheaper at $US260 per night compared with Brisbane.
The Concur study was based on total global travel spending by corporate clients tracked by company software. Out of $US50 billion travelling expenses in 2012, $US1.24 billion were spent in Australia by business travellers in 2012.
The Australian dollar had an exchange rate of $US1.03 in 2011 and 2012, but the local currency has fallen to its current rate of 91.7 U.S. cents.
Mr. Eberhard said the weakening Australian dollar would make significantly make a difference, but he predicted that Australia would remain as one of the most expensive countries in the world in 2013's survey.
Concur also found that Australian clients' spending on dining and entertainment dropped. Australian clients from registry group Computershare and engineering company Hatch Associates are also included in the survey.
Mr. Eberhard said the fall in dining and entertainment expense indicates that companies are doing whatever they can to manage its second largest variable cost - travel and entertainment.
Australian small and medium-sized businesses spent more money on lodging than larger companies which might be associated with less stringent travel expense policies and local deals with hotels, according to Mr. Eberhard.
In an attempt to save on costs, the Australian government, retail firms, mining companies and financial service providers are among the companies trying to restrict travelling expenses.
Cost-cutting measures would include fewer trips overseas and bookings at lower-priced hotels. A smaller budget for food may also be considered to minimise travel expense.
