Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Edition November 2020 - January 2021

Welcome to the November/December/January issue of Business Traveller Asia-Pacific magazine. Firstly, an explanation of where we’ve been since our last issue in April. The short answer is, nowhere much. The Covid-19 pandemic swept over us in early March, and despite having been in Hong Kong in February and seen the effect it was having, I doubt many of us appreciated the full effect of what was coming. Roll forward to mid-October and the situation is still far from clear. We hope that travel will gradually return, and there are glimmers of optimism with talks of travel bubbles and corridors between countries, and the start of testing to allow health passports, but the uncertainties are still there. Hundreds of thousands of employees in airlines, airports and hotels worldwide have already lost…

DEREK PICOT Veteran hotelier Derek has worked in senior positions on five continents, most recently as regional vice president for Jumeirah’s hotels and resorts in Europe. He now consults for hotel owners and luxury developers, advising on design and trends in hospitality. In his regular column (page 54), he takes a wry look at his many peculiar experiences working in the hotel business, which he mined for use in his lockdown mission: writing a novel. RICHARD TAMS Richard is a London-based airline consultant who has worked in Europe, North America and Asia. He spent most of his career at British Airways and has sat on several boards including those of airlines, tour operators and chambers of commerce. He now runs his own consultancy and coaching business, Tailwind Advisory. On page 55 of this…

Managing director Julian Gregory Editorial director Tom Otley Director Peggy Teo EDITORIAL Consulting editor Jeremy Tredinnick Online editor Seher Asaf Contributors Paul J Devries, Derek Picot, Richard Tams, Dr Roger Tyers DESIGN Art director Loretta Lam ADVERTISING Singapore & Malaysia – Juliet Lim Email jlim@panaceamedia.com China, Hong Kong, Macau – Iris Yeung Email iyeung@panaceamedia.com Elsewhere – advertising@businesstravellerasia.com ADMINISTRATION Admin & production manager Renee Chiu Circulation manager Allan Chan…

THE HARI HONG KONG TO OPEN BY THE END OF 2020 HONG KONG-based Harilela Group’s new hotel, The Hari Hong Kong, is set to open its doors by the end of 2020. Located in the city’s Wan Chai district, the brand-new hotel has 210 guestrooms including three signature rooftop suites designed by Tara Bernerd. The hotel aims to “serve as the community’s living room” with a variety of social spaces including a lobby lounge for guests; Zoku, a Japanese restaurant and terrace bar; and Lucciola, an Italian restaurant. thehari.com THAI AIRWAYS OPENS PLANE-THEMED RESTAURANT THAI AIRWAYS has transformed a former staff cafeteria at its headquarters in Bangkok into a plane-themed restaurant for flying enthusiasts missing the travel experience. The restaurant seeks to re-create the in-flight experience. Diners enter and exit the restaurant via mobile airstairs,…

ABOVE AND BEYOND I wanted to drop you a line having just devoured the [September-October 2020 UK] magazine, thank you for that. We travelled to France as soon as the Foreign Office lifted restrictions and travelled back via train from Angoulême and with British Airways from Paris Charles de Gaulle on a redemption flight. We went out from London Stansted on Ryanair, but its return price went from £26 (US$34) to £200 (US$260) in three days so we opted to come home for £1 (US$1.3) and some Avios on BA. Arriving at Angoulême rail station with plenty of time to spare for a direct train to CDG, we faced a delay owing to abandoned luggage at Bordeaux station. As time ticked by, it became clear that we would miss our flight. Out came…

BUSINESSTRAVELLER.COM/FORUM WHEN ARE WE TRAVELLING AGAIN? POST ANDY CAIRNS As much as I’ve complained in the past about time away from home, eating the same room service, delays and airport inconvenience, I’m really getting the itch to travel again. At the moment, I have no trips planned and it’s starting to look like there won’t be any until the middle of 2021. Is anyone else feeling this? SWISSDIVER I miss air travel as well. That little smell of kerosene when boarding… how low our expectations have become! Long-haul will probably have to wait. DAVIDSMITH2 As it stands, I have a trip to London in December and a trip to Sao Tome at New Year in the diary. But I am not at all confident it will be possible to do either. Trying to guess what might happen…