Business Traveller (Asia-Pacific)
Current trends that are influencing the travel industry
EXPERIENTIAL REWARDS
Hotel loyalty is moving away from rewards in the form of room upgrades and free stays to money-can’t-buy experiences and hyperpersonal gifts. Small Luxury Hotels of the World, for example, redesigned its loyalty scheme in September, renaming it Invited and introducing preferential treatment to elite members in the form of birthday gifts and invitation-only events.
Intercontinental Hotels Group, meanwhile, has joined forces with Opentable and Grubhub to allow guests to earn and redeem points on meals in restaurants. Global Hotel Alliance’s Discovery programme offers “local experience” rewards for Platinum and Black members, such as seabob snorkelling in the Maldives or scenic cycle rides around Bali. The scheme also applies to Kempinski hotels. The hotel group says: “Whether it’s a rare elephant ride in the jungle, a private tour of a Geneva watch factory usually closed to the public, a traditional Adumu dance with Masai warriors in Kenya, or a tour of Malta’s presidential palace and gardens, these experiences present the best of local gastronomy, culture and craftsmanship.”
FACIAL RECOGNITION
The iPhone X isn’t the only employer of facial recognition as a means of identification and added security. Airports and airlines are increasingly integrating the technology into their biometric boarding and immigration systems to help reduce queues, paperwork and the required staffing levels on checkpoints. While you may be anxious that this undermines your privacy, there is no way to turn the tide, so you may as well accept the benefits of a less stressful journey through the terminal as recompense.
Last summer, Delta Air Lines introduced its first biometric bag-drop stations at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport, requiring a facial scan at the self-service points to verify the passport holder. Last October, Singapore’s Changi Airport opened its new Terminal 4, which features biometric screening at check-in as part of its focus to become a fully automated end-to-end terminal. Dubai airport, in partnership with Emirates, is going further by creating cameralined facial recognition tunnels that you walk through without pausing to stare at a screen. The first tunnels should be in place at Dubai’s Terminal 3 by the end of summer 2018.
Meanwhile, British Airways is the first airline to use self-service biometric boarding gates on international flights out of the US, starting with Los Angeles International. BA has been using biometric gates at London’s Heathrow Terminal 5 for domestic flights since March 2017. Amsterdam Schiphol airport and KLM are working on a similar initiative, as is JetBlue, which has replaced boarding passes with facial scanning at Boston Logan airport.
British Airways said that its new technology, created by Vision-Box, “will create a smoother journey for customers, as they will no longer need to present their passport or boarding pass at the gate – only at check-in and security. Instead travellers can simply look into a camera prior to boarding, wait for their biometric data to be verified, and then walk onto the aircraft.”
In the US, Customs and Border Protection is trialling its Biometric Exit US in a handful of airports (such as Chicago O’Hare and Las Vegas McCarran), but there are plans to install it at every airport in the country within three years. The endeavour is being pushed forward by President Trump, who wants to use facial recognition to track visa holders as they leave the country (or not).
ALTERNATIVE COMMUTES
With congestion on roads getting ever worse and train services frequently unreliable,
getting to work has become a daily ordeal that pushes stress to unhealthy levels and eats into time that could otherwise be spent more productively. Some commuters have turned to cycling as an alternative mode of transport.
A recent study from the International Journal of Workplace Health Management has found that cyclists arrived at work feeling less stressed than people who had driven. Reflecting increased awareness of ways to improve mental health, a growing subset of people are being more creative in the ways they get from A to B, often using their commute as an opportunity to get fit. Some people are running to work, while others, in cities such as Munich, Basel and even London, are kayaking, surfing, paddle boarding or even swimming down the rivers, packing their laptops and suits in waterproof bags.
UNPREDICTABLE MOTHER NATURE
Business travellers need to prepare for flight delays and cancellations in the year ahead by having appropriate insurance, up-todate duty-of-care policies and watertight back-up plans ahead of disruptive weather conditions sweeping the planet. Many experts are putting this down to global warming (the last three years have been the hottest recorded), and 2018 is expected to be just as bad, if not worse.
Last year, Hurricane Harvey caused deadly flooding in Houston, leaving 80 people dead and US$195 billion worth of damage and, along with Irma and Maria, wreaked destruction on many Caribbean islands. Some of California’s worst-ever wildfires led to mass evacuations across the state – the Thomas fire, in December (not normally a month prone to many blazes), proved the largest on record, burning more than 272,000 acres (110,000 hectares of landscape, while mudslides killed 15 in January. Severe monsoon flooding in Bangladesh killed 1,200 people and affected more than 40 million – aid agencies said it was one of the worst humanitarian crises the region had seen in years.
Seismic activity is also causing problems. Two earthquakes hit Mexico last autumn, one of which proved the deadliest in 30 years; and a 7.3-magnitude earthquake in Iraq and Iran killed up to 580 people not long after. Scientists predict that due to a periodic slowing of the Earth’s rotation, there will be more quakes in 2018.
IN-ROOM FITNESS
Hotels know all too well that the gyms they invest in often aren’t used – people can be inherently lazy, yet the desire for better fitness remains. With that in mind, some brands are taking steps to make it as easy as possible for guests to work out during their stays by putting fitness equipment in bedrooms instead. A growing number of Marriott’s Westin Hotels & Resorts in the US, for example, are now offering some rooms with Peloton exercise bikes and online spinning classes streamed live or on-demand to built-in screens.
As part of Pullman Hotels & Resorts new wellbeing programme, a series of sevenminute videos has been created by wellness ambassador Sarah Hoey for guests to follow in their rooms or download from Youtube. This is accompanied by in-room yoga mats, fitness bags and local jogging maps. According to brand leader Lilian Roten, the underlying ethos is that fitness “must be accessible to everyone, regardless of your location, your time zone, how your diary is looking or your personal practice.”
At the same time, Hilton has been rolling out its Five Feet to Fitness concept to hotels in North America, featuring mini studios with Wattbikes, Gym Rax units with TRX straps, medicine balls from Lyft, Hyperwear Sandbells, yoga mats and meditation chairs, plus a screen for bespoke on-demand exercise classes created by Aktiv Solutions.
Ryan Crabbe, former senior director of global wellness at Hilton, said: “The variety of activity the room enables is motivating. One morning a guest can decide to roll out of bed for a quick guided stretch and yoga poses. Then later that evening, they might return from a stressful day and take a brisk bike ride while catching up on a favourite show or the day’s business news.”
NEXT-GEN AIRLINES
Aimed at millennials, Air France launched a new low-cost subsidiary airline for hipsters in December, ushering in a new era for trendy aviation created for the younger generation. Richard Branson did a good job of making flying sexy with Virgin Atlantic, but Air France’s Joon is looking to inspire a different kind of ethos, much in the way hotel chains have all launched “lifestyle” brands. Crew are dressed in “basic, chic” uniforms that consist of royal-blue cardigans, polo shirts, block-print shift dresses, gilets and retro-styled white trainers. Travellers who download the YouJoon app will be able to stream entertainment on-demand to their devices while in the air. There will also be individual touchscreen monitors on long-haul flights. On short-haul A320 flights, food and drink (with the exception of one free tea or coffee) has to be paid for,
Carriers such as Qantas and Air France have cancelled orders for the A380 superjumbo
This looks to be the year that high-tech smart luggage with built-in batteries is banned from being checked in
but on long-haul A340 services it’s free. The menu lists items such as Sicilian lemonade, smoothies, craft beer, tapas and organic quinoa salad. Unlike typical budget airlines, intercontinental services also have premium economy and business class cabins with fully flat beds. At the time of writing, there were one-way fares available from Paris to Barcelona, Oslo and Rome from €49 (US$60), and Istanbul from €99 (US$122, starting in March), Tehran and Cairo from €149 (US$184), and Cape Town from €279 (US$344) from April.
FAREWELL TO JUMBOS
The unmistakable B747, with its humped upper deck, first took to the skies in 1969 – and almost 50 years later, it’s finally reaching the end of its life. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing says that it sees “no significant demand” for the jumbo jet anymore, and has dropped the plane from its 20-year forecast. Instead, it predicts airlines will be choosing Boeing’s more efficient B787s and B777Xs for long-haul flights. In 2017, both Delta and United retired the last of their B747s, meaning no US airline flies the jumbo any longer. There are still around 500 in service globally, but a recent delivery of a B747-8 to Korean Air may prove the last to be built.
In contrast, a new entry to fleets around the world is the smaller, single-aisle B737 MAX. It has already become the fastestselling plane in Boeing’s history, with more than 4,000 orders from 92 carriers. The aircraft comes with Boeing’s new Sky Interior, “modern sculpted walls and window reveals”, LED lighting and larger overhead bins for luggage. It comes in four variants – the MAX 7, 8 , 9 and 10 – installed with 172 to 230 seats. Last year, Norwegian, Southwest Airlines, Air Canada, Silk Air and Westjet all received their first B737 MAXs. In November 2017, it was announced that Flydubai had placed a monster US$27 billion order for 225 of the planes.
This is part of a wider trend for airlines buying smaller aircraft, instead of larger planes with far greater operating costs. Even though fuel is currently cheap, carriers such as Qantas and Air France have cancelled orders for the A380 superjumbo.
AIRBNB HOTELS
Given Airbnb’s ambitions to become a onestop shop for travel – from home rental to experiences and possibly even flights – it makes sense that the company is partnering with property developers to build its own branded accommodation. In Florida, Airbnb is working with Newgard Property Group to open a 300-unit apartment tower for early 2018 (called Niido Powered by Airbnb) in Kissimee, near Orlando.
Tenants will be able to rent apartments on Airbnb for up to 180 days a year, and there will be hotel-style support in the form of cleaning and linen services, keyless entry systems, in-room safes and concierges. According to the Financial Times, Airbnb plans to unveil another five such projects over the next two years. There are also rumours that Airbnb will launch a “Lux” portal aggregating high-end private residences this year, allowing it to compete with One Fine Stay (now part of Accorhotels).
SMART LUGGAGE BAN
Business travellers have endured liquid and laptop bans in recent years, but 2018 looks to be the year that high-tech smart luggage with built-in batteries is embargoed. In December, American Airlines announced that suitcases containing lithium-ion batteries pose a fire risk when they are placed in the cargo hold of an aircraft.
As a consequence, from January 15 2018, all smart suitcases were banned from being checked in unless the power pack is removed. Other airlines, such as Delta and Alaska, have issued similar rules and EU carriers may follow suit, while Cathay Dragon and Cathay Pacific banned smart suitcases from January. (Smart luggage will continue to be allowed in the cabin – providing the batteries can be removed.) Brands that manufacture this sort of luggage, which can charge devices, be tracked and even move on its own in some cases, include Away, Barracuda, Bluesmart, Horizn Studios and Modobag.
AIRPORT GYMS
Instead of sitting in the airport lounge eating platefuls of free food and drinking wine, many of us would feel better at the end of our journey if we’d done a workout instead. Last autumn, Lennart Meri Tallinn airport in Estonia became the first in Europe to install a pop-up gym within its terminal near gate 6 (complete with runway views). Operated by My Fitness, the light, expansive gym has high ceilings, with Technogym weight machines, an elliptical trainer, a rowing machine, exercise bike, treadmill and staircase trainer. The only problem is there are no showers.
Roam Fitness is also taking gyms for jetsetters seriously, having opened its first in Baltimore airport last year. The 109 sqm facility has cardio equipment, free weights,
medicine balls, TRX suspension straps and space for stretching. Mercifully, there are four private showers. You can also buy healthy snacks and drinks on-site, and even rent Lululemon fitness clothing if you haven’t packed any of your own. Roam Fitness says it plans to open three more US locations this year and, within five years, hopes to have 20 locations including some overseas.
REACTIVE ROOMS
Marriott International has partnered with Samsung and Legrand (a specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures) to create a prototype internet of things (IoT) hotel room, which it hopes to one day bring to its portfolio of properties. Marriott believes in a sci-fi future where mirrors talk and your shower recognises you when you walk in. It says the IoT Guestroom Lab allows users to ask a virtual assistant for a wake-up call, to start a yoga routine on a full-length mirror, or set the shower to the temperature stored in their customer profile.
The Irvine Marriott in California has been experimenting with a smart shower door, whereby people can draw or write down ideas in the steam on the glass, and then have them beamed to an iPad. A select number of Marriott’s Aloft hotels already have voice-activated rooms.
AFFORDABLE LUXURY
Good news for budget-conscious business travellers is the continued growth of affordable luxury in both hotels and airlines. Boutique hotel mogul Ian Schrager launched his new high-design Public hotel brand in New York’s Lower East Side in 2017, with 367 pared-down rooms, openplan co-working spaces, a florist, cocktail bars, a deli, rooftop event space and free wifi. The idea is you get everything you need to work and relax on-site and in style, but for lower prices than you might expect (from US$195 a night).
In a similar vein, Dutch chain Citizen M offers just one category of compact room and no in-room dining, swimming pools or gyms. Instead, guests benefit from generous amounts of communal space for working and eating, and a hip canteen open 24 hours. Again, there is an emphasis on creating a trendy but homely environment. A night at the new Citizen M La Défense in Paris costs from €71 (US$88) a night, and the chain plans to expand across North America and Asia over the coming years.
The new Moxy Times Square (from Marriott) is another example of a hotel chain that has chosen to invest in imaginative interior design, lively social spaces and superb dining at unusually low rates (from US$124 a night) by eliminating extraneous facilities and levels of service.
Affordable luxury is coming to airlines too. The Lufthansa Group’s budget subsidiary Eurowings has announced it will be installing a business class cabin – with fully flat beds – on board its long-haul wide-body aircraft departing Dusseldorf from the end of April 2018. Oliver Wagner, the airline’s CEO, said: “That’s not a contradiction for Eurowings. We see strong demand for another top product on routes with high business travel, for example from Dusseldorf to New York, Miami and Fort Myers.” And, he says: “We’ll be entering the Bizclass race with our usual budget-priced tickets.”
Air France subsidiary Joon is ushering in a new era of trendy aviation aimed at the younger generation