Indian businesses increased spending on rail fares by 58% in 2012

NEW DELHI: Led by a depreciating rupee, spending by Indian businesses on railway fares saw a 58 per cent increase and airfares saw a jump of 18 per cent in 2012, travel and expense management solutions provider Concur Technologies said in a report.

"The rupee declined 12.4 per cent against the dollar from 2011 to 2012. Accounting for this change in exchange rates, we can see that India saw an 18 per cent increase in the average price of airfare. Rail costs also increased greatly - nearly 58 per cent," according to Concur's third annual global report on travel and entertainment spending.

The report analysed more than $ 50 billion in corporate travel and entertainment expenses in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and India.

According to the report, Bangalore emerged as the top destination in India for business travel, ranked 12th in the 25 most-visited cities, followed by Mumbai in 20th place in terms of number of overnight hotel stays.

Average spending in Bangalore was around $ 227 for categories of lodging, ground transport, dining and entertainment, whereas Mumbai's average spending was $ 238.

Expenses on lodging were the highest in India, with an average of 31 per cent of total spending, compared with APAC countries such as Japan (23 per cent), Hong Kong (25 per cent) and Australia (14 per cent).

"Through this report, we aim to help our customers in understanding and organising their employee spends accurately," Concur Technologies Senior Director (Marketing, APAC) Christopher Juneau said.

The most expensive international city for business travel was Brisbane in Australia ($ 547.53), followed by Tokyo ($ 540.91) and Sydney ($ 524.01).