New York is the most popular business travel destination globally, followed by London and Paris.

Data from Egencia says that Europe represents two of the top three business destinations, with Paris coming in third globally as the city continues to establish itself as a popular regional business hub. From 2016-2018, Egencia data shows that air travel to the French capital experienced 20 percent growth. London (second) and Paris (third) were the only two European cities to place in the top 20 global business destinations for 2018.

Shanghai, China’s pre-eminent commerce center, is the fourth most traveled-to business travel destination internationally this year. Asia overall dominated the top 20, with Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo ranking sixth, eighth and ninth respectively, and Beijing (15^th), Mumbai (17^th) and Seoul (20^th).

The Middle East, South America, and North Africa also all have important global business hubs, with Dubai (11^th), São Paulo (18^th) and Casablanca (19^th).

In North America, Canadian cities performed well, with Toronto in fifth, outranking many major commercial centers in the U.S., including San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston. Montreal, Canada’s second largest city by population, is the 14^th most traveled to destination for business travelers across the globe.

Between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2018, total business travel flight bookings increased globally by nearly 110 percent. During the same period, flight bookings for New York increased by more than 120 percent, for London by nearly 80 percent and for Paris by nearly 120 percent. Meanwhile, Singapore saw the largest increase in flight bookings globally — air travel to and from the destination increased by nearly 160 percent over roughly five years.

“While U.S. and European cities retain the top three spots, the most interesting takeaway is how global business travel has truly become with five of seven continents represented in the top 20 destinations,” said Andrew Dyer, Vice President of Global Supply at Egencia. “As business travel continues to grow, it’s never been more important for companies to have a traveler-friendly program that also provides unified global tools for travel managers to assist their travelers.”

The Egencia data captures flight booking and reservation trends from small, mid-cap and multinational companies in more than 60 countries between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2018. The complete list of 20 most traveled-to destinations is:

• New York
• London
• Paris
• Shanghai
• Toronto
• Singapore
• San Francisco
• Hong Kong
• Tokyo
• Chicago
• Dubai
• Mexico City
• Boston
• Montreal
• Beijing
• Los Angeles
• Mumbai
• São Paulo
• Casablanca
• Seoul