Why Boston is One of America’s Best Cities for Business Travel

When most people think of Boston, they think of the past. But while this is a city that wears its history proudly, Boston is a cosmopolitan destination wholeheartedly focused on the future. A global capital of health care, biotech, higher education and financial services, it is one of the country’s most visited destinations for business travelers.

Yes, you can still walk The Freedom Trail between the city’s most enduring Revolutionary War-era monuments, and Fenway Park is still decorated with Red Sox jerseys from a century ago. But take a closer look and you’ll find that Boston is also a city that feels purpose-built for the contemporary traveler.

Logan International Airport / Photo: Courtesy of Massport

The Airport

Boston’s Logan International Airport reached a new record in 2024, serving more than 43 million passengers. Although Logan seldom cracks the top 10 in terms of busiest airports in the United States, it offers flights to a stunning 143 total destinations (84 domestic, 59 international), including daily nonstop service to Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, as well as most major European destinations.

The recent renovation of international Terminal E signals continued growth of flight routes. Richard Davey—the CEO of Massport, which manages Logan Airport—has also publicly expressed interest in adding direct flights to India and increasing service to South America. Best of all? Logan sits less than five miles from the city’s downtown core—so you can get from Jetway to boardroom in approximately ten minutes.

Business Hotels

Located in a former Federal Reserve Bank building in the heart of the city’s Financial District, The Langham, Boston reopened in 2021 after a stunning two-year renovation, and still feels like the business hotel of choice. Its signature Italian restaurant, Grana, occupies the former Federal Reserve’s grand hall, offering a bank-turned-hotel atmosphere that’s a slam dunk for any business dinner. But don’t feel confined to the Financial District.

Rhode Island shaved whelk with coconut lobster broth at Woods Hill Pier 4 / Photo: Courtesy of Woods Hill Pier 4

One and a half miles west is the Fairmont Copley Plaza, a beaux arts grande dame overlooking the newly restored Copley Square. It’s across the street from the Boston Public Library and a short walk to both shopping in the Back Bay and restaurants in the South End, the largest intact Victorian row-house district in the country—in other words, the Fairmont is where you’ll want to be if you’re doing some sightseeing after your meetings.

Power Meals

There was never a shortage of dimly lit, oak-paneled joints in which to get an expense-account-friendly steak dinner in this town, but Boston has undergone a culinary renaissance over the last few years, with a number of stunning dining rooms across town. At Contessa, a Major Food Group offering atop The Newbury hotel, you can order an impressive Milanese surrounded by the glam of a Ken Fulk-designed dining room overlooking the Boston Common. Over in the Seaport District, Woods Hill Pier 4 offers seasonally driven, locally sourced modern New England fare in a dining room offering views of the Boston Harbor. Either restaurant is sure to impress, especially at sunset.

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center / Photo: Courtesy of Rafael Vinoly Architects

Conference Centers and Venues

Thanks to its interconnectivity with not only domestic destinations but also international ones, Boston has a thriving convention scene. In the heart of the city’s historic Back Bay (and with its own T stop on the Green Line), the Hynes Convention Center offers 175,000 square feet of exhibit space and 38 meeting rooms, as well as a 25,000-square-foot ballroom and 4,000-seat auditorium. It is connected to shopping and restaurants at the Prudential Center and Copley Place, as well as three hotels—The Westin Copley Place, Boston Marriott Copley Place and Sheraton Boston—so conference attendees don’t even have to step outside to get from hotel to meeting.

Head over to the glittering Seaport District—a newly developed neighborhood where the skyscrapers house some of the city’s best shops, restaurants and office space—to find the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC), one of the largest in the Northeast. It offers 516,000 square feet of exhibit space, as well as 82 configurable meeting rooms and a 40,000-square-foot ballroom. At just eight minutes to Logan, the BCEC has the fastest airport-to-convention-center time in the country.