Innholdsfortegnelse for January - February 2025 i Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Edition

THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR is traditionally a time for regrowth and renewal. It's also a time when our thoughts turn to health, fitness and general well-being after the excesses of the festive period. With freshly pledged New Year's resolutions in mind, runners pound the pavements, diets are embarked upon and gyms see their membership numbers swell with the ranks of the guilty. Some of us head to spa resorts to recoup and get away from it all. Having made our own resolutions, in this issue we visit some of the best spa resorts in Asia, especially those that heal the mind, body and soul of businesspeople in need of some spiritual R&R. The vibe has moved on from whale music and scented candles. Today's spas offer science-backed wellness programmes,…

AVIATION First & business class updates HOTELS Hot new openings TRAVEL Trends on our radar SUSTAINABILITY Biophilic interiors, green spaces HOME OF BUSINESS AT ALTITUDE, Davos hosts the influential annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) every January, which assembles global leaders, delegates from major international organisations and the occasional celebrity to discuss everything from geopolitics to artificial intelligence and sustainability. The big news in 2025 is WEF's increase in the admission price for second-tier attendees – i.e. the entourage of official participants – from CHF100 (US$112) to CHF1,000 (US$1,120). But it's not all work: there's plenty of winter treats for visitors, whether it's hitting the ski slopes at Jakobshorn and Parsenn, or watching ice hockey. A range of cultural programmes accompany the event. In hotel news, the Hotel…

AS THE competition for luxury air travel intensifies, airlines are pushing boundaries to redefine business class comfort and innovation. For business travellers, 2025 promises a range of new and improved business class cabins, offering privacy and technology at new heights. Here are the top five business class products that travellers can expect in the coming year. 1 AIR NEW ZEALAND Business Premier and Luxe Air New Zealand will introduce its Business Premier and Business Premier Luxe seats on its Boeing 787s in early 2025, offering an all-new product and inflight experience. The cabin will feature a 1-2-1 herringbone layout that comes with 52cm-wide seats that convert into 204cm flatbeds. They will also include a 24-inch TV screen, USB ports and Bluetooth audio. The Business Premier Luxe seats will offer larger ottomans,…

MICRO-EXPERIENCES: Using data to drive curated and personalised surprise-and-delight moments. EVENT EXPERIENCES: Preferential access, special events and unique perspectives. SERVICE EXPERIENCES: Recognising the individual by name, remembering their interests and preferences – essentially making loyalty truly customer-centric. GAMIFIED EXPERIENCES: Creating high-frequency engagement challenges with immediate earn/ response cycles. DIGITAL EXPERIENCES: Immersive, personalised virtual experiences using advanced VR and AR technology and interfaces. SOCIAL IMPACT EXPERIENCES: Brands should have meaning and impact beyond their core product. Loyalty is a useful place to express this, as more programmes drive engagement with benefits and rewards in the social and sustainability spaces. SOURCES: *Global Markets Insights, Sports Tourism Market Forecast 2024 – 2032; **Custom Market Insights, Global Music Tourism Market 2024–2033 ‘The new loyalty paradigm of immediacy, utility and relevance means that customers are…

LAUNCHED IN 2015, Revolut currently has 10 million customers in the UK, and 45 million worldwide. All customers conduct their banking online via an app, with no physical branches existing. According to Action Fraud, Revolut was named in more reports of fraud in 2023 than any other major UK bank. For every £1 million (US$1.27 million) paid into Revolut accounts last year, £756 (US$960) came through Authorised Push Payment fraud – that's ten times the amount of Barclays, for example. Scams have involved fraudsters posing as Revolut to trick customers into sharing security codes over the phone and installing malware on their devices to access digital wallets. The company has since buffed up its defences, with an additional layer of biometric protection put in place. Top 4 neobanks in the…

PAUL SMITH'S TRADEMARK stripes have found a new sustainable home, partnering with Brighton, UK-based design studio Gomi, which focuses on circular lifespans and reducing the need for raw materials. Waste plastic from Paul Smith's supply chain has been transformed into Bluetooth speakers and power banks. The stripes take on a unique psychedelic, molten-style pattern, thanks to the plastic moulding process. Charge two devices simultaneously with the portable charger, and relax with waterresistant speakers by the pool.…

Hutong, Hong Kong Truly jaw-dropping vistas await from this expansive dining room that overlooks Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong Island, stunning both day and night, while elegant interiors reflect the finest in northern Chinese craftsmanship. Yinlu, Amanyangyun, Shanghai Few hotpot restaurants can match the setting of Yinlu, set in a lakeside bamboo grove on the shores of a lake, surrounded by a forest of camphor trees. Hei Fung Terrace, The Peninsula Tokyo Views of the pristine Imperial Palace gardens are just one draw in a room with elegant interiors that pay homage to the Chinese province of Suzhou and its famed gardens. Jade, The Fullerton Hotel Singapore Warm pastel colours, stylish prints, lanterns, screens and greenery ensure that Jade is one of the loveliest places to dine in the Lion…

Families, groups of friends and solo travellers are all welcome at Anantara Layan Phuket Resort for its newly launched Layan Life retreat. The experience starts with a comprehensive wellness consultation and diagnostic check-up, before experts curate your transformative programme, which includes three meals a day, spa treatments, group classes and talks by experts. Importantly, fun takes centre stage, with activities such as zip-lining and stand-up paddle boarding. Chef Filippo Tawil provides wellness cuisine rich in macronutrients and free from gluten, dairy and processed sugars, while the spa offers local therapies, hydro programmes, spiritual rituals and high-tech facials.…

HONG KONG Hong Kong Arts Festival From February 27 The 53rd Hong Kong Arts Festival begins at the end of February with a performance of Family by Shanghai Yue Opera House, one of China's leading companies. The next day it will perform The Butterfly Lovers (pictured). During the course of a month, the festival will feature music, ballet, theatre, opera and dance from around the world. ITALY Brera Modern, Milan Now open The Brera Modern finally opened December, 50 years after plans for the museum were first unveiled. Located down the road from the existing Pinacoteca di Brera, which houses works by the likes of Canova and Caravaggio, the new museum will showcase the gallery's modern oeuvres. AUSTRALIA Yayoi Kusama, Melbourne Until April 21 The National Gallery of Victoria's new…

Q & A Tell us about TeamLab. TeamLab is an international art collective founded in 2001. It's made up of specialists with different skill sets, including painters, CG animators, software and hardware engineers, mathematicians and architects. Founder Toshiyuki Inoko's background is in physics and robotics, while mine is in literature and philosophy. I joined in 2010 and previously worked as editor-in-chief for a video game magazine in Stockholm. I don't have a title as such at TeamLab. We're a collective so we don't care about titles or independent names – we're a team! What's TeamLab's mission? At TeamLab, we try to form relationships between humans and the world through artworks. It's comparable to travel. When people travel, they experience the world. For instance, you might be able to see Mount…

DON'T GET US wrong – Vietnam's street food is among the best in the world. Recently, however, the number of fine-dining restaurants in cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has skyrocketed, whether it's thanks to Michelin-starred chefs serving up elevated versions of street food staples or the ones going all out to champion local ingredients. The inaugural Michelin Guide Vietnam came out in 2023, and since then there's been no looking back. Love a new take on an old classic? At Anan Saigon, a Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurant next to Ho Chi Minh City's biggest wet market, head chef and founder Peter Cuong Franklin's offerings include a US$100 banh mi made with foie gras and a caviar egg pho, an unusual take on Vietnam's famous soup. The caviar…

VIVIENNE TANG Vivienne is the founder and CEO of Destination Deluxe, a leading wellness publication that curates the finest resorts, retreats, spas and beauty brands for the global nomad. She previously served as editor-in-chief of AsiaSpa. Catch up with her recommendations for Asia's top spa resorts on page 48. TAMARA HINSON Tamara is a UK-based freelance travel writer who loves snowboarding, scuba diving and Formula 1. Her happy place is anywhere in Asia – particularly the Japanese island of Shodoshima. She's also a bit of a foodie: turn to page 54 to see her tips on fine dining in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam. CHRIS CHAMBERLIN Chris is an editor for Points Hacks in Australia and an award-winning journalist with a penchant for business travel (he's flown over…

LUFTHANSA HAS launched its long-awaited Allegris first class suites, initially operating on flights to Bengaluru and Mumbai. The carrier had intended to introduce the product alongside its new business, premium economy and economy seating, which launched in May, but delays led to the first Allegris-fitted A350 aircraft entering service without a first class cabin. The first class cabin features just two individual suites and a “globally unique” Suite Plus, with two seats that convert into a double bed, plus features including near-ceiling-high walls and a lockable sliding door. To begin with, the suites are being offered by invitation-only to its “most loyal guests”, with targeted upgrades and then bookings being made available as more aircraft with Allegris first class enter service. Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines has announced plans for an all-new…

Research from Priority Pass shows the demand for travel linked to sports and music is set to continue $564 billion* Sport tourism was worth US$564 billion in 2023 and is expected to rise to US$1.3 trillion in 2032. $13.8 billion** Music tourism is anticipated to reach a value of US$13.8 billion by 2032. Sydney is the top city for sport or music events, followed by London, Barcelona, Paris, Dubai and New York. Football is the sport most people travel to see (69%), followed by basketball (27%), the Olympics and Formula 1 (26%) and tennis (21%). 84% of fans travelling internationally visited a new destination, and 30% plan to return. 38% of event travellers would choose a payment card with perks such as travel packages and travel insurance, while 33% desire…

CHINATOWN In 1822, as part of his Raffles Town Plan, British coloniser Stamford Raffles split Singapore into several districts and allocated each to a different ethnicity. A large area to the west of Singapore River was marked for Chinese migrants. Today, Chinatown's Temple Street is lined with gift shops selling porcelain and jaunty chopstick rests in various designs – from varnished ducks to silvery dragons. Overhead are strings of red lanterns and alluring neon signs that mark restaurants. Parallel running Pagoda Street is a vibrant spot too, with powder-coloured shophouses and, at the far junction, Sri Mariamman Temple. It's the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, and a site to see for its gopuram – the entrance tower of a temple, and in this case, an elaborate five-tier pyramid lined with…

IN ANGELA MERKEL'S new memoir, co-written with her long-time political advisor Beate Baumann, she looks back on her 31-year political career and personal life. Stories meander through her childhood, youth and studies in the German Democratic Republic, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Also included are retellings of conversations with some of the world's most powerful people, discussions of international turning points and an inside look into how global decisions were made.…

ASK ANY business leader about the most tedious task of everyday work, and email is bound to be at the top. One McKinsey study indicates that business professionals can spend up to 28 percent of their time on email. But sometimes the agony of email is self-inflicted. In working with corporations and nonprofit clients on internal communication strategies, I find that all too often people respond as quickly as possible to get it out of their court. I call this a ping-pong approach, where messages fly back and forth, resulting in a long chain with little to show for it. The solution is to use techniques that begin with an intention to move the work forward with fewer back-and-forth exchanges. Here are some ideas to apply to your everyday email…

IN THE WORLD OF CULINARY tourism, the Asia-Pacific region serves up an impressive slice of the pie – claiming 37.8% of the global market in 2023. From the sizzling street food of Kuala Lumpur to the high-end dining hubs of China and beyond, this region offers a mouthwatering mosaic of flavors, where sweet, salty, and spicy notes join in perfect harmony. But Asian cuisine is more than just a feast for the senses; it carries centuries of cultural heritage, lovingly folded into each dish. While some recipes remain steeped in tradition, others have embraced evolution, adapting to modern palates and trends. As we step into 2025, these standout restaurants across the Asia-Pacific region are redefining world-class dining – one unforgettable bite at a time. CHINA Lingnan House, Guangzhou Based on…

Black spots Even with new tech, the long journey taken by your data can cause dropouts, slow speeds and high latency. Certain countries also ban internet within their airspace or impose restrictions on data handling. International airlines often deactivate the service over India for this reason. Remember too that aircraft usually run just one external internet connection. Your data shares that invisible line with everybody else, creating bottlenecks to slower speeds. Protect your data Using public wifi brings about security concerns. Inflight networks are usually unencrypted, making data easy for others to intercept. Using a VPN can help mitigate these risks by encrypting your traffic between your device and a server on the ground. That's the case even if the hotspot itself isn't secured. Frankly, I never connect to inflight…

NO POINTS FOR BA In early September I was booked on a BA / American Airlines trip from Copenhagen to San Juan on business class. I had an early morning departure with two connections to reach Puerto Rico, but around eight hours before departure I received an email from BA saying that due to a technical issue, my connecting flight to London was cancelled and they cancelled the full trip. This is of course what happens, but the way it was handled was not how I would treat a loyal BA frequent flyer. (Gold or Silver the last nine to ten years). BA's suggestion was a rebooking that would get me to Puerto Rico 48 hours later than my original flight. I immediately rejected this and called my travel agency…

NEW TECHNOLOGICAL solutions from AI to wifi connectivity (see feature on page 68) will continue to revolutionise the travel experience in 2025, with the customer as the ultimate winner. How will this manifest in airport lounges? In terms of backend operations, new Priority Pass Lounge Management Systems (LMS) will enhance the guest experience while streamlining capacity management, featuring pre-book capabilities, digital wait-lists, and real-time flight tracking. Lounges will also be able to manage services such as massages, showers, and co-working spaces. At the other end of the scale, robot waiters are now serving drinks at the Hacienda Santa Lucia by The Grand Lounge Elite in Felipe Angeles International Airport, Mexico – winner of the Priority Pass 2024 Pioneer of the Year Award. These machine assistants have also made their way…

The restaurant: K by Vicky Cheng Lauded as one of Asia's most creative and progressive Chinese chefs, Hong Kongbased Vicky Cheng has just opened his first overseas concept, K by Vicky Cheng, 56 floors above the steamy streets of Bangkok. It wows from the off, thanks to vertiginous city views, sophisticated, welcoming interiors and beautifully executed dishes celebrating Cantonese and Chiu Chow flavours. Although his fine-dining tasting menus in Hong Kong have won Michelin stars, in Bangkok you can pop in for anything from a quick bowl of noodles to a lavish banquet menu, served family style. Highlights on our visit included a stellar take on the decadent favourite of caramelised char siu pork, silky mapo tofu with sea cucumber, and a hot and sour soup with heat levels to…

Q&A Minor Hotels has been busy recently with a flurry of recent openings. Can you tell us about some of the latest developments? In 2024 we opened some of the best Anantara hotels in the United Arab Emirates. The Santorini Abu Dhabi Retreat is very exclusive, with just 22 rooms and suites, and the Ras Al Khaimah resort is almost a Maldivian experience with over-water villas. The Anantara Palais Hansen Vienna Hotel in Austria was another great acquisition – a rebrand of an iconic hotel. In October, we launched Anantara Ubud Bali Resort, and we've got a lot more coming – including in Zanzibar, China and Zambia. What about your growth plans going forward? Our aim is to open another 200+ hotels in the next three years, which will add…

WE ALL KNOW the knock-on effects of a lengthy flight delay. The missed onward connection, the abandoned business meeting, or simply lost time with the family after an arduous business trip. But what about the effects on passengers’ alcohol consumption and the resulting outbreaks of violence on board? According to Ryanair CEO, Michael O'Leary, “The biggest problem we have is when you have a day of bad delays. People are waiting around at airports and they keep lorrying alcohol into themselves.” Of course, many of us enjoy a drink or two at airports without incident, but cases of unruly passenger behaviour are on the rise. IATA's latest analysis reveals there was one incident for every 480 flights in 2023, versus one for every 568 flights in 2022 and one per…