Hickory Data: Houston, Orlando Emerging as Corp. Travel 'Hubs'

Houston was the most popular city for U.S. business travel during the second quarter, according to booking data from corporate travel agencies using the Hickory Global Partners platform.

The data, based on member bookings and average daily rate of spend through the Hickory platform, shows that "new locations are emerging as business travel hubs" as in-person conferences and exhibitions rebound following the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Hickory president Chris Dane. "While the majority of the top cities for business travel, both domestically and internationally, have previously been identified as corporate travel hubs, many cities including Houston and Orlando have since increased in popularity due to new construction, reemerging conferences or progressing business landscapes."

Orlando ranked sixth on the list of the top 10 most popular U.S. cities for business travel on the Hickory platform, following San Diego, New York, Chicago and Atlanta, according to the data. Charlotte, Austin, Las Vegas and San Antonio rounded out the top 10.

Among destinations outside of the U.S., London was the most popular on the Hickory platform during the second quarter. As most of Hickory's members are based in the U.S., four of top 10 international destination were in Canada, including Toronto (second), Montreal (third), Calgary (fifth) and Mississauga (sixth), which Dane said came "as a surprise." Other cities in the top 10 include Stockholm (fourth) and Dubai, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney, ranked seventh through 10th, respectively.

The Hickory alliance for global travel agencies includes 2,500 members covering 74 countries, and its platform manages bookings with more than 51,000 hotel partners, according to Hickory.