Hickory Global Partners shares 2027 outlook, names 2026 top business travel cities

New data from Hickory Global Partners reveals that companies paid more for business travel in 2026. While the corporate travel consortium’s annual ranking — drawn from hotel nights booked by its more than 2,500 member travel management companies, corporate travel departments and corporations in over 150 countries — shows demand holding firm in the most expensive markets while cities in the Middle East, Australia and India break into the top 10.

That demand is holding up in an expensive year. GBTA forecasts business travel spending will hit a record $1.71 trillion in 2026, up 7.2%, while the number of trips rises just 1.3%.

Most of the difference is price, which makes where companies send travellers, and what they pay once there, the central budget question for 2027.

Hickory’s top 10 U.S. cities for business travel in 2026 are:

• New York, NY
• Houston, TX
• Chicago, IL
• San Diego, CA
• Atlanta, GA
• Dallas, TX
• Charlotte, NC
• Orlando, FL
• Miami, FL
• Las Vegas, NV

A year of political and economic uncertainty didn’t change where companies sent their people first. New York remained the most-booked U.S. city for business travel, and London held the No. 1 spot internationally.

Both are also among the most expensive cities in Hickory’s data, a sign that companies are still willing to pay for access to the markets where their clients and deals are.

Internationally, the top 10 were:

• London, England
• Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• Paris, France
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Sydney, Australia
• Tokyo, Japan
• Toronto, Canada
• Singapore, Singapore
• Melbourne, Australia
• Bangalore, India

Chris Dane, president and managing partner of Hickory Global Partners, observed that: “When four new cities break into the international top 10 in a single year, it shows you where companies are sending people to win business. Travel managers should expect Riyadh and Bangalore to start showing up in their own booking data.”

So, what’s ahead in 2027

As for what’s ahead in 2027, a recent GBTA survey calls for “relief, not a reset.” Price increases should slow, but labor costs locked in through multi-year contracts and wage inflation will keep fares and rates above 2025 levels.

Hickory expects travel programs to respond in four ways:

• Budgets set city by city. Rates in Rio and Dallas are moving on their own schedules. Programs will plan from each city’s 2026 actuals and hold back a contingency line for surprises.
• Hard negotiating in New York and London. The two cities were Hickory’s most expensive and most booked in 2025, and both kept the top spot in 2026. Securing rooms during major conventions matters as much as the rate.
• Cabin rules tied to the trip. With premium fares up 9.5% this year, blanket downgrades are tempting. Expect policies that weigh flight length and whether the traveler meets a client on landing.
• Approval forms that ask why. North American buyers who expect to travel more point to client and partner meetings (58%) and internal collaboration (57%), according to GBTA. Forms that capture purpose and expected outcome give approvers what they need and build a record of what each trip produced.

Said Dane: “Our members’ clients aren’t cutting the trips that matter. They’re asking us to make those trips cost less. That’s the work in front of us for 2027, starting with the cities on this list.”

Go to www.hickoryglobalpartners.com for more.