UK most expensive destination for business travellers

New data from hotel solutions provider HRS has revealed business travellers typically spend an average of £87 per room per night in the UK, versus just £65 per night in Europe.

The UK remains the most expensive business travel destination in Europe.
The UK remains the most expensive business travel destination in Europe.
The Q1, 2015 report found London remains the most expensive destination at £116 per night – an increase of 15.6% compared with Q1 2014.

Meanwhile in Europe (excluding London), Zurich tops the table with average room rates reaching £110 – again, an increase of 14.9% against the same period last year.

When it came to the total cost of a stay, HRS’ data showed that including the cost of the hotel room people on average spend £129 in Europe compared with £202 in the UK – a difference of £73. This means that if you take the average cost of a hotel room in the UK at £87, an individual is likely to rack up £115 of additional hotel expenses to the cost of their room in the UK, compared to a far more modest £64 extra for Europe where typically just £65 is spent on a hotel room each night. This doesn’t include the cost of flights or other transport.

HRS’ data also revealed breakfast typically cost £11 per person if paid for separately. However over a third of hotel bookings made with HRS (36%) included breakfast, meaning that more businesses could be making cost and time efficiencies by not having to pay extra for breakfast on departure.

Jon West, managing director of HRS in the UK and Ireland, commented: “It’s interesting to see how much more business travellers are paying for a night away in the UK compared to in Europe. Our annual 2014 Price Radar study showed that room rates for a night in London had become the highest in Europe, and on average, hotel rates in the UK soared by an average of nine per cent last year. Looking at Q1 2015 data, whilst the average price for a room in London is currently £116, those looking for a more modest night away on business in the UK can currently find the cheapest average room rates in Edinburgh (£76) and Birmingham (£77).

“Whilst Europe might look cheaper on paper, it’s important to remember that other costs such as transfers and flights, as well as time spent travelling quickly mounts up, so keeping business trips within the UK could actually be cheaper for a business in the long-term.”

HRS reports that currently just under half (46%) of business travellers choose to stay in four-star hotels in the UK, whilst 56% of those booking in Europe are most likely to treat themselves to a four-star hotel for a night’s stay away on business – an upward swing of 10%. Conversely in the UK, nearly 40% of business travellers will pick a three star hotel, compared with just 32% in Europe.

“Four-star hotels have traditionally always proved particularly popular with business travellers as there is a perceived mark of quality that comes with this rating. However, independent hotels are certainly worth considering as they’ll typically be 15% cheaper than chain hotels and could have great facilities and user reviews. We know that one in five people leave reviews after they’ve stayed in one of our properties, and this is a really encouraging number as it means that bookers can access genuine feedback about all hotels listed on our portal, and therefore get added peace of mind whether they’re picking a chain or independent.”

Meanwhile, looking at five star hotels that are bookable via HRS, London topped the tables with 65 listed, with Prague (41) and Berlin (32) coming in second and third position respectively – perhaps reflecting the rise in popularity of these destinations as premium places to visit for leisure and business travellers alike.

 sourced:traveldailynews.asia