Tampa, Orlando Among America’s Best For Business Travel

TAMPA, FL — Business travelers tired of delays, cancellations and other hassles at airports will find some cities simply perform better than others. When it comes to the best of the best, Tampa and Orlando rank in the top 10, according to an industry trade group that recently rated the country’s best cities for productive, seamless business travel.

Detroit, Michigan, earned first-place honors on the On Call International list. Phoenix, Arizona, and Cleveland, Ohio, came in second and third, respectively.

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On Call International, a travel risk management firm, looked at a variety of factors to create its ranking. The on-time rates of flights into and out of airports played a role, but so did lodging costs, reliability of mobile network coverage, traffic congestion levels and performance at local hospital emergency rooms.

When all was said and done, Tampa earned eighth-place honors, followed by Orlando in ninth place. No other Florida cities scored top 10 positions.

“There are several issues that could arise during business travel that have the potential to affect employee safety and productivity — and also impact their organization’s bottom line,” Thomas Davidson, vice president of On Call International, said in a news release. “Clients, customers and partners may not be sympathetic when it comes to missed meetings or late deliverables in today’s always-on digital work environments, and staying connected while avoiding major obstacles like flight delays and gridlock traffic is paramount to a road warrior’s productivity and success.”

The top 10 cities on the Business Travel Productivity Report are:

1. Detroit

2. Phoenix

3. Cleveland

4. Minneapolis

5. Denver

6. Dallas

7. Sacramento

8. Tampa

9. Orlando

10. Houston

Orlando earned first-place rankings for its affordable hotel prices, while Tampa came in forth in that category. Tampa also tied with Dallas in third place for having the best 4G LTE coverage.

Patch’s Beth Dalby contributed to this story.

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