September 2023

Business Traveller

The leading magazine for the corporate traveller

Business Traveller1 min read
Welcome
Our cover story celebrates an exciting milestone this issue – a return to China, the first time in three years since the you-know-what. Following some of the strictest Covid-19 restrictions in the world, the opportunity to travel to Shanghai offers a
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Contributors
MATT COOPER has been a golf journalist for 15 years working for the likes of ESPN, Sky Sports, NBC, Forbes and Global Golf Post. He has travelled to all of the obvious golfing hot spots, but also written about the sport from more unusual locations su
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British Airways To Change Ways Of Earning Avios From October
LAST YEAR, IBERIA AND BRITISH AIRWAYS announced they would be moving towards a new spend-based system of earning miles, rather than distance flown, with Iberia adopting the changes in November. British Airways has now announced changes will be taking
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Business Traveller
EDITORIAL Editor Tamsin Cocks Online editor Mark Caswell Art director Annie Harris Consumer editor Alex McWhirter Features editor Hannah Brandler Sub-editor Helen Dalley Contributors Matthew Cooper, Varun Godinho, Laura Millar, Jeremy Tredinnick ADVE
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United Extends Bag Drop Shortcut Service To Heathrow
UNITED AIRLINES CUSTOMERS departing from London Heathrow can now use the carrier’s Bag Drop Shortcut. The service works in conjunction with the United app to enable customers to check in their bag themselves, and was trialled at Newark in 2021 before
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Emirates To Offer Premium Economy On Flights To 13 Cities By End Of The Year
EMIRATES HAS PROVIDED AN UPDATE on the rollout of its premium economy seating, with more than 160,000 customers having flown in the new cabin since August last year. The Gulf carrier is currently offering premium economy on flights to and from 11 cit
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Ennismore Launches Paid-for Dis-loyalty Programme
GLOBAL LIFESTYLE HOSPITALITY company Ennismore has unveiled a new paid-for scheme giving members access to discounts on hotel stays and dining. The Dis-loyalty programme costs £12 per month for which members benefit from 50 per cent off rates on new
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Lufthansa Expands Business Class Meal Pre-selection Service
LUFTHANSA HAS ANNOUNCED a number of changes to its inflight service, including an expanded meal pre-selection offering for business class passengers. Premium customers on long-haul flights from Germany can now choose from a total of six main dishes,
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Skyteam Launches Hand Baggage Compliance Checker For Connecting Customers
SKYTEAM HAS LAUNCHED a new tool enabling customers to check the hand baggage allowance when travelling on more than one member carrier on one itinerary. Passengers can use the Carry-on Calculator to input their class of travel and the airlines they a
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20 Per Cent Of Travelodge Hotels To Feature Budget-luxe Design By Year End
TRAVELODGE HAS PUBLISHED an update on the rollout of its budget-luxe revamp, with a total of 55 properties set to benefit from the new design this year. Of these, 25 hotels have already been upgraded in locations including Cheltenham, Ipswich, Oxford
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Air India Unveils New Livery And Brand Identity
AIR INDIA HAS UNVEILED ITS NEW aircraft livery as part of a new brand identity that “captures the essence of a bold new India”. The new livery features a palette of deep red, aubergine, and gold highlights, along with a chakra-inspired tailfin patter
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The Cavendish To Become London's First Crest Collection Hotel
THE ASCOTT LIMITED HAS ANNOUNCED plans to add the first property under The Crest Collection in the UK. Earlier this year, the group outlined expansion plans for the brand, with locations including Jakarta, Bangkok, Tokyo, Osaka and London. It has now
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Air Miles
FRANK GRILLO is managing director of Altamura Distilleries, which produces vodka from wheat in Puglia. WHY SWAP ATLANTA FOR PUGLIA? My whole family is of Italian American descent and I always wanted to live in Italy. It hit me one day that no one rea
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Rhythmic Raffles
RAFFLES HOTEL SINGAPORE has introduced the third iteration of its Writer’s Residency programme, which first launched in 2019 and is inspired by famed writers who have formerly stayed at the property. Writers are hosted at the hotel for up to four wee
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Making It To The Maldives
THE NAUTILUS MALDIVES, located on the Baa Atoll in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, has teamed up with Hummingbird Travel to offer a luxe transfer to the private island resort for the 2023/24 festive period. Guests can book a private charter jet from Lo
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Lost In Translation
Idioms from around the world that have us scratching our heads. This issue, it’s a German expression. Phrase: Wo sich fuchs und hase gute nacht sagen Literally: Where a fox and hare say goodnight to each other Meaning: To be out in the sticks ■
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TIME OUT Our Pick Of Events Taking Place Around The World
This free annual foodie event celebrates the best of local food and drink with a programme of chef demonstrations, cookery workshops, markets, live music and even a self-guided cookie tour. There are around 100 market stands on Parliament Street, St
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Stars Save The Lakes
THE LAKE DISTRICT’S TOP CHEFS are joining forces this month to host a week-long culinary event to raise funds for the Save Windermere campaign, which seeks to end sewage pollution into Lake Windermere and its surrounding rivers. Chefs 4 Save Winderme
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Liquid Travels
TOUR THE GLOBE WITH COCKTAILS at the Churchill Bar & Terrace, located at Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill on Portman Square. The UNITY cocktail menu brings together different cultures, ingredients and stories of the Americas, Asia and Europe, fro
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Recycling At 35,000 Feet
AER LINGUS HAS BEGUN recycling onboard waste on short-haul flights as part of the carrier’s target of reaching net zero by 2040. Following a series of trials, the airline is now recycling onboard waste on flights to Cork and Dublin, in partnership wi
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Good Ol' Gin
THE FIVE-STAR Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa in St Andrews has launched a gin in partnership with local distillery Darnley’s in East Fife. Named Fearann, Mar, which is Gaelic for “the Earth, the Sea,” the gin is made from natural botanicals gr
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Securing Saf
RGIN ATLANTIC HAS ANNOUNCED plans to ate the world’s first transatlantic flight using 100 per ustainable aviation fuel (SAF) later this year. Pending regulatory approvals and further testing, irgin intends to operate a flight between Heathrow and New
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Voco Zeal Exeter Science Park To Open In 2024
IHG HOTELS AND RESORTS’ “first lifecycle net zero carbon hotel” has been confirmed as voco Zeal Exeter Science Park, a joint venture between IHG Hotels and Resorts and Zeal Hotels. The 142-key hotel will be located adjacent to junction 29 of the M5 a
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Big Apple By Bike
MANDARIN ORIENTAL, NEW YORK has launched a bike programme to encourage guests to get around the Big Apple in a more sustainable manner. Bike the City provides guests with complimentary use of a Specialised or Cannondale bicycle for two hours (or an e
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Electric Feels
GREEN ENERGY ENTREPRENEUR Dale Vince will launch new airline, Ecojet, using planes retrofitted to run on hydrogen-electric power. The founder of renewable energy supplier, Ecotricity, and owner of Forest Green Rovers football club, plans to offer dom
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Above Par
UK-BASED GOLF CLOTHING brand The Cut Company has unveiled its first collection of sustainable golfwear, comprising polos, caps and outerwear. The polos (£50) and outerwear (£65) are created from upcycled polyester – the fabric is melted down and re-s
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Inflight Entertainment
Public speaking will become far less nervewracking after reading this book by BBC presenter and journalist, well-known for his snappy ‘Ros Atkins on…’ videos covering current affairs. Atkins teaches readers how to best articulate themselves in front
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Work From Anywhere
USWITCH, a UK comparison website for home services, has unveiled the most popular places for logging on to work outside the office or home. ■ Coffee shops or cafes (16%) ■ Holiday or holiday apartment (12%) ■ Airports, train stations or trains (11%)
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New Hotel Openings Around The World
London’s Chelsea neighbourhood welcomes a new boutique hotel this month, located at 1 Sloane Gardens just off Sloane Square. The 30-room One Sloane hotel is a collaboration between Parisian hotelier Costes, designer Francois-Joseph Graf and the 300-y
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Win A Three-night Stay At The Fullerton Hotel Singapore
BUSINESS TRAVELLER has teamed up with The Fullerton Hotel Singapore to offer a lucky reader and guest the chance to win a three-night stay in a Marina Bay View Room. The prize includes Straits Club privileges and afternoon tea for two people at The C
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Win A Saicho Sparkling Tea Collection
BUSINESS TRAVELLER has teamed up with Saicho, an award-winning sparkling tea brand, to offer a lucky reader the chance to win three 750ml bottles of Saicho Sparkling Tea featuring each tea expression: Jasmine, Darjeeling and Hojicha. Saicho makes the
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Join The Debate
BUSINESSTRAVELLER.COM/FORUM What are your experiences of wifi provision on UK rail services? I’ve rarely had a good experience, and a recent experience has been particularly frustrating. I was travelling from London to Plymouth with GWR and the conne
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The Future Of Long-term Stays
Earlier this year I attended the International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF) in Berlin, a three-day event for industry speakers in the hospitality world. There was a noticeable buzz around the extended stay segment, from serviced apartments to
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New Brands From Big Groups
Hilton announced this lower-midscale brand under the working title of Project 3 in May, targeting long-stay travellers looking for apartment-style accommodation for 20 nights or more. Project 3 is set to launch in the US, with the group engaged in mo
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Accessible Rights Take Flight
Imagine being stranded at an airport, not being able to use the bathroom on an aeroplane, or lacking access to the IFE system. For many travellers, such instances would prompt a flurry of outrage, but for those with accessibility needs – which includ
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Recent Accessible Wins
■ In July, United launched new tactile signage to help people with visual disabilities better identify row numbers, seat assignments and lavatory locations independently. Some aircraft have already been equipped with Braille, with the entire fleet ex
Business Traveller6 min readWorld
Bound shanghai
The economic impact of the pandemic was felt all over the world as countries grappled with various measures to contain the disease. In China, efforts to deal with the pandemic were among some of the most severe, with extensive lockdowns, closed borde
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New Hotels In Shanghai
Located further down the Bund from landmarks such as the Customs House and the Peace Hotel, the MGM Shanghai nonetheless has a central feel and sits right on the Huangpu riverfront. Occupying the 43rd – 56th floors of AI Towers, it offers 161 opulent
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UK spotlight: Birmingham
By the 19th century, Birmingham had earned its reputation as “the workshop of the world”, dominating manufacturing across the globe with everything from toys and guns, to jewellery and silverware. Today, the city is still one of the UK’s manufacturin
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New Accommodation
Due to open this autumn, the city centre property is a redevelopment of the Royal Angus Hotel in St Chads Queensway that will be managed by Switch Hospitality. It will offer 161 apartments, comprising 84 studios, 71 one-bedroom and six two-bedroom ap
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The Inside Scoop
What do you consider the three key ingredients to creating a successful luxury hotel? It all comes down to comfort, first-rate service and a classic aesthetic. It’s never about hopping on the latest design trends. Service must be non-intrusive and at
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What Goes Around Comes Around
You are seconds from landing, thinking about where your passport or car keys are, when suddenly the aircraft engines go to full power and a steep climb is initiated. From a passenger perspective this can be quite alarming, particularly if you are a n
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Luxury Treading Lightly
The sand is warm and soft between my toes, a balmy breeze ruffles the leaves in the palm trees, my stomach is full after an exquisite dinner, and the sky is putting on a colour-saturated show as the sun sinks below the horizon. It’s easy to see why t
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Committed To Sustainability
Anantara Kihavah Maldives – has a solar system providing 26 per cent of its energy needs, an orchid garden, a coral regeneration programme, and a biomass system for food waste. Coco Collection – is home to the ORP Marine Turtle Rescue Centre and a te
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Timed To Perfection
There were so many major announcements from Rolex at Watches and Wonders this year that it was genuinely difficult to decide which one warranted the most attention. Was it the all-new Perpetual Collection with the very classy Perpetual 1908 model, or
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Golfing around Europe
What makes it special? It’s the first European mainland design by David McLay Kidd, who designed the Castle Course at St Andrews. The golf: An hour south of Lisbon, the Dunas Course was, after years of anticipation, officially opened to the public in
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PARIS 7th arrondissement
Housed in the magnificent former Orsay railway station, this grand museum on the banks of the Seine has the largest collection of Impressionist art works in the world. Pick up an audio guide (€6) for commentary on more than 300 works, and take in the
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Air Astana A321 Neo LR Business Class BANGKOK-ALMATY
BACKGROUND Kazakh flag carrier Air Astana launched its first service between Almaty and Astana in 2002. Today, the Air Astana Group, which includes low-cost carrier FlyArystan, serves more than 90 destinations across Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Eur
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Hotel AMANO Covent Garden
BACKGROUND The AMANO Group opened its first property in Berlin in 2009, and owns 11 hotels and four conference centres, with another five projects under development in locations including Leipzig, Hamburg and Munich. The Covent Garden property opened
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The Grand Hotel Birmingham
BACKGROUND The gorgeous Grade II-listed heritage property first opened in 1879. The hotel was forced to close in 2002 before being brought back to life with a £50 million restoration and reopening in May 2021. WHERE IS IT? Centrally located on Colmor
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Zoku Paris
BACK GROUND Dutch brand Zoku is a long-stay aparthotel concept, with guests able to stay from one night to a year. The brand, launched in 2016, is named after the Japanese word for tribe or clan and focuses on fostering a sense of community. Zoku has
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Hôtel Dame des Arts, Paris
BACK GROUND Hôtel Dame des Arts opened in February 2023, following an extensive renovation of a 1950s-built Holiday Inn property. It belongs to EQ Hotels and is a member of Preferred Hotels and Resorts. WHERE IS IT? On Rue Danton in Paris’ sixth arro
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Wifi In The Air
Taking a flight used to mean being out of comms for the duration of the journey, but things have drastically changed. Not only do most airlines now offer wifi connectivity, many are also starting to offer this service for free, meaning it probably wo
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The Big Picture
The annual Drone Photo Awards, which is part of the Siena Awards festival, returned this year with incredible aerial photos across nine categories. Among the commended images in the Urban category is Marco Bottigelli’s Mosaic Aloft, depicting a bird’

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