Asia Pacific continues as a global powerhouse for travel and trade in 2025 with Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong leading the region’s rankings as top destinations for business travellers.
BCD Travel’s Cities & Trends 2025 Asia Pacific report listed the top 10 APAC business travel cities based on air and rail data and found direct flights, sustainable travel and travel policies are shaping the corporate landscape in the region.
According to the Global Business Travel Association’s first Business Travel Outlook poll for 2025, APAC led global corporate travel spend growth last year with 78 per cent of buyers reporting taking more trips compared to 2023.
Flight Centre Travel Group also found 40 per cent of Australian businesses intend to increase travel and 42 per cent of corporate travellers plan to increase their travel spend in FY25 compared to last year.
Top 10 APAC business travel cities and countries for 2025
Singapore remains the dominant city for corporates with a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in business travellers, thanks to increased flight capacity, visa-free policies and infrastructure.
Tokyo rose in the rankings as the second-most visited APAC city – up 38 per cent YOY.
Hong Kong, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur rounded out the top five APAC business travel cities for 2025.
Shanghai, (6) Seoul (7), Taipei (8) and Jakarta (9) remained unchanged in their positions from the previous year, however, Sydney achieved 10th place as the only Australian city represented in the list.
According to flight data, the top five most-visited APAC countries in 2024 were Singapore, China, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand.
For APAC flights, most travellers (84%) booked economy and only around 15 per cent booked business class.
For long-haul travel, almost half of APAC business travellers (45%) book business class, signalling a shift towards more premium air travel.
Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Sydney are the top three layover cities in the region.
Rail travel also gained traction last year with sustainable priorities driving more business travellers to use high-speed rail in China and Japan.
