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Top 10 business travel cities
The European rankings have mostly remained the same as the previous year, except for Stockholm jumping one spot, moving Europe’s de facto capital Brussels to 10th place. Western Europe’s business travel growth in 2024 was primarily driven by real estate activities, followed by the arts, entertainment and recreation sector.
With eight cities in the top 10, the intercontinental list is clearly led by the U.S. Dubai remains solid in third place.
| 2024 ranking | European cities | Intercontinental cities |
| 1 | Amsterdam | New York City |
| 2 | London | Chicago |
| 3 | Frankfurt | Dubai |
| 4 | Munich | Washington, D.C. |
| 5 | Paris | San Francisco |
| 6 | Copenhagen | Boston |
| 7 | Zurich | Atlanta |
| 8 | Vienna | Seattle-Tacoma |
| 9 | Stockholm | Shanghai |
| 10 | Brussels | Los Angeles |
“Although the geopolitical landscape will remain subject to rapid change and complexity, posing concerns for travelers and their companies, the global economy has delivered upside surprises in 2024,” said Michèle Lawley, regional president of Europe at BCD. “Global business travel growth over the past year surpassed expectations, paving the way for continued momentum in 2025.”
Top 10 business travel countries
As a mature business travel market, it’s unsurprising to see little change in the European country rankings, with Germany keeping its first position as the most visited European country.
Italy is showing the strongest increase in inbound business travel within Europe. Its economic recovery, especially in the second half of the year, has bolstered business confidence and activity within the country. In addition, airlines have expanded their operations in Italy, increasing the number of flights and destinations served.
The international ranking has also remained largely the same with the U.S. firmly in first place. Only Qatar and Singapore swapped places. China has shown a strong rebound in travel, driven by key factors like eased travel restrictions, pent-up travel demand, economic upturn and policy initiatives to encourage travel.
| 2024 ranking | European countries | Intercontinental countries |
| 1 | Germany | United States |
| 2 | United Kingdom | United Arab Emirates |
| 3 | Netherlands | India |
| 4 | France | China |
| 5 | Italy | Canada |
| 6 | Spain | Qatar |
| 7 | Switzerland | Singapore |
| 8 | Denmark | Japan |
| 9 | Sweden | Brazil |
| 10 | Austria | Morocco |
Top 10 business travel routes
London is the most popular arrival and departure hub for European flights, accounting for eight city pairs in the top 10 European routes2. For intercontinental routes, London to New York City tops the chart. The top 10 arrival hubs are dominated by U.S. cities, with New York City being the most popular.
| 2024 ranking | European routes | Intercontinental routes |
| 1 | Amsterdam – London | London – New York City |
| 2 | London – Amsterdam | Frankfurt – Chicago |
| 3 | Frankfurt – London | London – Los Angeles |
| 4 | London – Dublin | Frankfurt – New York City |
| 5 | London – Frankfurt | London – Chicago |
| 6 | Dublin – London | London – Seattle-Tacoma |
| 7 | Munich – London | Frankfurt – Shanghai |
| 8 | London – Munich | Paris – New York City |
| 9 | Stockholm – Copenhagen | Frankfurt – Washington, D.C. |
| 10 | Copenhagen – Stockholm | Frankfurt – San Francisco |
Cabin class and flight type
For European flights, business travelers mostly booked economy class (92%), with only 7% flying business class. However, the breakdown for intercontinental flights is equal: business class and economy class both make up 44% each. Premium economy and first class are booked the least.
Due to relatively shorter distances, high demand for point-to-point travel and smaller aircraft, most European flights are direct (85%). In contrast, only 52% of intercontinental flights from Europe are direct. Intercontinental travel is often structured around major airline hubs. Instead of every city having direct flights to other continents, airlines consolidate passengers at hubs like Amsterdam, Frankfurt or London to fill large aircraft before flying long distances.
“On intra-European flights, there are several reasons why most travelers book economy outside of just being mandated by the travel policy,” said Olivier Benoit, senior vice president at BCD’s consulting arm Advito. “The comfort difference between business and economy is often perceived as insignificant on short-haul flights and many business travelers benefit already from frequent flyer services like lounge access and priority boarding, even in economy.”
“For travel managers, the return on investment is much higher on economy tickets. They’re often half the price of business fares, and 70% of these flights are less than two hours,” added Benoit. “On such short flights, a traveler’s productivity level won’t differ much between economy and business class.”
Car rental
For 21% of all air bookings in Europe, travelers booked a rental car with an average of four days. Key reasons for renting a car instead of using other means of transportation are convenience, speed, lack of alternatives and price
1 Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K.
2 Top routes combine data of multiple airports for the following cities: London (Heathrow, London Gatwick and London City); Paris (Charles de Gaulle and Orly); New York City (John F. Kennedy, Newark and La Guardia); Shanghai (Pudong and Hongqiao).
Tags: Olivier Benoit, Advito, Michèle Lawley,BCD Travel, Germany
