They’re in, Business Travel News’s cost measurements for the top 100 domestic markets this year…
These indexes are used by Corporate America to judge the cost of lodging, food and car rentals in various cities. They also often determine the per diems paid by businesses to traveling employees.
The highest per diem averages are for San Francisco – as in $509.50 per day.
The lowest at No. 100 was Shreveport where a mere $241.16 should get you through a business day.
So how did Kansas City fare?
We came in right behind Des Moines at No. 53 with total daily expenses of $294.10.
Salt Lake City was a notch below us at $293.43.
As for the various components in this annual national survey, hotel costs in Greater KC had us ranked at No. 46 with an average rate of $155.22 per night of shut eye.
Food costs here were relatively cheap with KC ranked at No. 86 with a daily combined breakfast, lunch and dinner average of $86.96.
However the opposite was true when it comes to car rental costs where KC jumps way up to # 14!
An average rental here will set a visitor back $51.93 per day.
Glorioso
You can thank former KC Mayor Kay Barnes, political puppet Steve Glorioso and Sprint Center for KC’s high car rental taxes.
And what aBOUT the rest of the world?
The average daily hotel, food and miscellaneous costs total $362.00 with London now coming in aT No. 1.
The average London hotel room rate today was listed as $340.00, with miscellaneous costs at $87.00 and food at $149.00—making for a new daily London high of $576.00.
So now you know where WE stand……
Jack is an independent travel agent with Shelton Travel Service at 913-649-2960.
Can you expand on why Barnes, Glorioso and the Sprint Center are responsible?
gayle…there’s a tax on car rentals in kc….barnes and glorioso and the
rest of the big money in kc was for it…got it passed.
taylor in st. Louis fought it and lost.
Most of us don’t rent cars jack. It’s mostly out of towners or insurance companies
Let them pay for sprint center and p and l.
Mr. Taylor tried to fight it…but lost…pretty simple.
Things like the arena fee.
So I guess since we are larger than the 53rd highest market, it is a relative bargain to travel to KC. Sounds like those taxes to fund the arena were a good choice to me. Can you imagine our concert scene if we were still using Kemper to attract the biggest acts to come here?
I see you bought part of the Barnes plan “hook line and sinker”. The fact is the Kemper was just fine for shows and nobody, period end of report passed by KC because of Kemper. Now the only real asset that Sprint has the persons attending events there won’t ever use. That would be the backstage and load in area that are terrific. But no bathrooms in the suites, which Kemper has, very narrow seats in the upper levels unlike Kemper, better access to and from the venue, both for cars and people entering and leaving the building. Those are event facts…but don’t let that get in the way of a great story. Also well laid out the RNC response to why they did not pick KC. Sprint Center was a primary factor in the NOT picking KC.
PS: the opening show with Garth Brooks was already planned for Kemper and it was serendipity it all worked out as it did and Sprint was able to use that show to sell the story. Best yet the venue had lost many every year it has been open. Best part old Barnes and crew kinda forgot to tell all you lemmings that the city was still on the hook for $80mil to the Royal.
Whitten knows what he’s talking about here…
He’s a concert business veteran.
I like the Sprint Center but it was way oversold to music biz naive media types like Kevin Kietzman, Joe Posnanski and Kevin Collison.
It was also all but guaranteed to bring and NHL or NBA team to KC and everybody from the Star on down swallowed that one hook, line and sinker.
The other thing that really screwed taxpayers was the college basketball coaches walking away from the Municipal Auditorium complex AFTER KC had invested millions of dollars and had it ready for them to move in to.
And don’t forget how Global Spectrum had Kemper on the mend and starting to do some business. Unbeknownst to Global though, not only did Barnes give Sprint to AEG, it backfired Global by giving AEG Kemper too.
So instead of having a healthy competition for events – Sprint would have won out in many if not most instances – AEG basically mothballed Kemper costing the city millions.
nice article whitten. Good facts that most people didn’t know.
But the con behind the con just bought a 5.3 million dollar home in l.a.
thanks tim lie wicky for all this kc mess. He bought freddy couples home.
AEG was smart and knew how to play this one out and did.
Written is spot on with this one, too.
Now we’re stuck with a Kemper Arena that the American Royal has veto power over (not to mention its legal threats to other suitors) and no clear vision or path for the future.