Asia-Pacific’s eight most expensive countries for business travel
According to recent industry data, Hong Kong has emerged as the overall most expensive city for business travel, followed by Seoul and Tokyo.
ECA's Daily Rates reports, collated annually, record average costs for hotel accommodation, meals, drinks, laundry, taxi transport and daily essentials.
Lee Quane, regional director - Asia for ECA International, said: "Looking at four-star hotel accommodation, rates here are the seventh highest in the region, approximately 20 per cent lower than comparable accommodation in the most expensive location, Hong Kong."
The cheapest location in Asia for business travel is currently Kuala Lumpur; Bangkok, Phnom Penh and Bandar Seri Begawan are the only other capital cities ranked within the top 10 cheapest locations for business travel in Asia.
"A combination of generally low living costs, relatively cheap accommodation options for business travellers and weak currency against the USD have contributed to these locations being where they are in our rankings," Quane added.
Here is the ECA ranking:
1. Hong Kong
2. Seoul, South Korea
3. Tokyo, Japan
4. Singapore
5. Busan, South Korea
6. Macau
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Shanghai, China
"Companies have many ways to ensure that the costs incurred by an employee during the course of a business trip are covered, whether that be via reimbursement or the provision of a daily allowance to meet such expenditure," said Quane.
"However, what the variation in costs within the region suggests is that it is important for companies to ensure that the allowances they pay are relative to each location that they send an employee to. These should also be reviewed on a regular basis in order to account for the annual changes."
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SOURCE: [Asiaone]
