Corporate travelers are still paying up for premium rooms, and hoteliers plan to charge them more for the privilege next year. American Express Global Business Travel’s Hotel Monitor 2027 projects another year of rate growth across most major business destinations, with the strongest gains coming out of Latin America and Europe and the weakest out of the Gulf, where the Middle East conflict has hollowed out demand.
Meetings and events are doing much of the heavy lifting. Amex GBT credits steady group and corporate demand in the Americas and Europe, plus inflation that refuses to fade, for keeping rates on an upward path. Asia-Pacific should see gentler increases.
For the first time, the report offers each city a forecast range rather than a single number, a hedge against geopolitical and commodity-price swings. Amex GBT says the low end applies if the Middle East conflict drags on or if global inflation lands near the International Monetary Fund’s 4.7% projection for 2026; anything hotter than that points toward the high end.
| City | Lower | Upper |
| New York | +1.6% | +2.5% |
| Mexico City | +4.7% | +7.1% |
| Toronto | +0.5% | +1.9% |
| Buenos Aires | +8.1% | +8.7% |
| Sao Paulo | +10.9% | +12.2% |
| London | +3.6% | +5.4% |
| Paris | +3.1% | +4.8% |
| Madrid | +6.1% | +9.2% |
| Dubai | +1.0% | +2.0% |
| Riyadh | +1.5% | +3.2% |
| Beijing | +1.9% | +3.0% |
| Bengaluru | +5.0% | +5.5% |
| Sydney | +3.5% | +5.0% |
| Singapore | +0.8% | +1.6% |
Dubai is the outlier worth watching. UAE hotel occupancy sank to 19.6% in March before clawing back to the 40% to 50% range, and Amex GBT expects Gulf hoteliers to lean on aggressive pricing to lure travelers back, which is why Dubai’s forecast tops out at 2%.
Paris and Mexico City, by contrast, keep drawing crowds despite sluggish home economies. Paris rides its standing as a premier events city to a floor of 3.1% growth, while Mexico City’s broad visitor mix and regional meetings pull should deliver 4.7% to 7.1%. India, on track to be the fastest-growing major economy in 2027, will see rate growth cool from recent spikes as new supply from global chains comes online, though Bengaluru still lands at 5% to 5.5%.
Airfare is the wild card squeezing budgets. Amex GBT Consulting pegs fares up 15% year over year as of mid-2026, and as much as 30% on Asia routes, which is reshaping where corporate travel dollars go even as travelers hold the line on where they sleep.
“Price is a key indicator, but it doesn’t always tell the full story. We’re encouraging companies to consider what value means to them, and what they are getting from their hotel spend, not just the headline rate,” said Sara Andell, director of consulting strategy at Amex GBT Consulting.
The report also flags artificial intelligence as a growing force on both ends of the negotiating table, with hotels using agentic AI to fine-tune revenue management and buyers using AI sourcing tools to turn what was once an annual rate negotiation into an ongoing one.
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