NO BUSINESS TRIP to Charlotte, N.C., is complete without driving over to the Nascar track at Lowe's Motor Speedway off Highway 29. And, in Chicago, you just have to grab dinner at the award-winning French restaurant Everest downtown.

But, recently, embarking on those little outings to make business travel more bearable has become a much more expensive proposition. Cash-strapped city governments are hiking taxes and tourism fees on rates for hotels, car rentals and even restaurants. While the cash goes toward visitor-friendly projects such as tourism promotion, maintaining local attractions and otherwise keeping the city in tip-top shape, these fees can weigh heavily on travelers' budgets adding as much as $45 daily.

"A lot of local politicians find it very easy to pass these taxes because the people they affect aren't their constituents," says Bill Connors, executive director of the National Business Travel Association. "It's basically a 'taxation without representation' scenario."

"Short of swapping your destination, there's really no practical way to avoid these fees," adds Ed Perkins, contributing editor for travel advice site SmarterTravel.com. "If you're visiting Chicago, you're not going to get on the L [rapid transit system] and go 45 minutes out to Evanston to have dinner just to avoid extra tax." (One thing you can do is steer clear of the airport, where fees at hotels and car-rental agencies are the highest).

To help figure out which cities charge visitors the most, the National Business Traveler Association recently crunched the numbers on taxes and fees levied in 50 U.S. cities. They based these figures on average daily charges of $103.70 per night for hotel, $82.03 for meals per day and $76.60 per day for car rental, before taxes and fees. Among the most tax-friendly cities that NBTA found: Honolulu, Portland, Ore., and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

1. Chicago

Chicago is home to many Fortune 500 companies, some of them with a great view of Lake Michigan.

(Source: istockphoto.com)

Big business loves Chicago in six of the past seven years, it became home to more new and expanded corporate facilities than any other U.S. city, reports Site Selection, a trade publication for the corporate real estate industry. More than 30 Fortune 500 companies call the metropolitan area home, including Boeing, Kraft Foods and Allstate. There's also McCormick Place, the third-largest convention center worldwide, which draws in three million visitors annually. But for all its favor among the business set, Chicago has the highest tax burden for travelers, adding $42.44 to daily expenses:

Hotels: 15.39% per night, including 2.14% for the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority (constructs and renovates sports stadiums) and 2.5% for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (organizes and promotes conventions).
Car Rentals: 20%, plus a $2.75 "motor vehicle lessor tax."
Restaurants: 10.25%. Tack on another 1% at restaurants within the MPEA's downtown jurisdiction.

2. Cleveland

Cleveland is trying to bridge the gap between its manufacturing past and its business-friendly future.

(Source: istockphoto.com)

Since office supply giant OfficeMax and auto-parts maker TRW abandoned Cleveland, the city has been seeking to reinvent itself and move beyond its manufacturing roots. Part of the plan is to build a new convention center downtown. In September, the county government voted to increase the sales tax from 7.5% to 7.75%, in part to pay for construction. Current travelers to the city can expect a tax burden of $34.52 for daily expenses. The amount jumps to $45.92 a day if they stay near the airport:

Hotels: 15.25%, including a 3% "bed tax" to finance the Cleveland Convention Center and a 4.5% room occupancy tax used largely to promote tourism. Stay near the airport, and pay an additional $3 per night for airport facility maintenance.
Car Rentals: 7.75%, plus $6.41 for city improvement. Rent a car at the airport and pay an extra $8.40 to fund the shuttle service.
Restaurants: 7.75%.

3. Nashville

Nashville's iconic Country Music Hall of Fame.

(Source: Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau)

As the "home of country music" the city hosts the Big Four record labels: EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Nashville's recording industry pulls in plenty of performing artists and music fans alike. But it still plays second fiddle to the health-care industry. More than 300 health-care companies are based in Nashville and the surrounding area. Among them, Fortune 500 company and hospital operator HCA, pharmaceutical-services company CVS Caremark and health-care provider Vanguard Heath Systems all call the city home. Yet, even with all those health care and music dollars pouring in, city travelers must bear a sickening added tax burden that averages $39.55 a day:

Hotels: 15.25%, including a 6% occupancy tax used primarily to promote tourism. Also, $2 per night toward the building of a convention center.
Car Rentals: 13.25%, plus $4 for the convention center.
Restaurants: 9.25%.

4. Charlotte

Wachovia's headquarters rises above Charlotte's skyline.

(Source: istockphoto.com)

This city attracts its fair share of speed demons. In fact, it's moving full speed ahead to complete construction of the Nascar Hall of Fame, which will commemorate the professional stock-car racing association's history and its impact on the city's economy (a large number of Nascar's employees and racers call Charlotte home). Add to that a swiftly expanding financial industry, which is prompting construction citywide as companies such as Bank of America, Wachovia and lending web site LendingTree.com move more assets and operations into town. All of those projects, however, cost money. The city's tax burden on travelers averages $38.80 a day:

Hotels: 15.25%, including 2% for the Nascar Hall of Fame.
Car Rentals: 16%, of which 5% goes to cultural facilities and tourism. There's also a $3.96 fee for the museum.
Restaurants: 8.25%, including a 1% restaurant meals tax.

5. Phoenix

Snowbirds and business travelers alike arrive through Phoenix International Airport.

( Source: istockphoto.com)

Long a popular winter destination for snowbird retirees seeking warmer climes, Phoenix has also become a migratory hotspot for technology and research outfits. Businesses like Amkor Technology, Honeywell's aerospace division and online search giant Google are among the flocks maintaining facilities in the city, generating a boom in high-tech research. (And with so many people flying in and out, it's not surprising that carrier US Airways has its headquarters here.) But the tax burden in Phoenix is enough to ground plenty of travelers, averaging $39.28 for those who stick near the airport and $37.28 for those bound for the city's center:

Hotels: 13.27%, 1% of which goes to the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority. Another 2% goes to the convention center.
Car Rentals: 18.55%, including 3.25% for the ASTA. All renters pay $2.50 for the Maricopa County Stadium Authority, and airport renters owe $2 more for the ASTA.
Restaurants: 8.30%