F U TURE TRE NDS
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, oſten 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.
Carriers such as Qantas and Air France have cancelled orders for the A380 superjumbo
UNPREDICTABLE MOTHER NATURE Business travellers need to prepare for flight delays and cancellations in the year ahead by having appropriate insurance, up-to- date 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.
bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om AP RIL 2 0 18
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 seven- minute 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. Tere 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,
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