Are you reading this at home? Perhaps in the spare room/kitchen table/garden shed “office” that has been your improvised workspace for most of this year? Poleaxed by the pandemic, many of us have had to adjust to a strange new era of business travel – one abruptly shorn of getting on planes and going to offices and where the business day is now conducted almost entirely via electronic screens. The trend towards remote working has been rapidly accelerated (even Zoomed) by Covid-19, along with the dreamy thought that we might as well do this somewhere warm and uplifting – a lifestyle change that is now being encouraged by exotic destinations ranging from Anguilla to Georgia, inviting us to up laptops and “work from paradise”.
Doing so is worth considering, given that the technology exists to allow work from almost anywhere and that Covid-19 isn’t going away. As Professor Sir John Bell, a leading immunologist and Regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford, has put it: “There’s going to be lots of this virus around for a long time, probably forever.”
At the same time, working remotely is going mainstream. Microsoft has said it will allow staff to do this permanently, even from another country if approved. Germany plans to make working from home a legal right, while the Welsh government wants to see “around 30 per cent of the workforce working remotely on a regular basis”. Pontypridd or Bora Bora? Now that is a question.
Denne historien er fra November 2020 - January 2021-utgaven av Business Traveller UK.
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Denne historien er fra November 2020 - January 2021-utgaven av Business Traveller UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The rail thing - Why airlines and train companies are partnering to increase options for travellers on short journeys
An intercity flight connection operated by train would have been almost unthinkable in the early 1990s, but in 2024 it will increasingly be the default experience at many European hub airports. European nations have been among the world's leaders in adopting high-speed rail for short-distance trips, along with Asian countries such as Japan and China.
Adventures in Albania - From paranoid dictatorship to dream travel destination, why the Balkan nation is ready for its moment in the sun
Over the past few years, tourism has shot up stratospherically; recent figures from the European Travel Commission show it's grown 86 per cent since 2019. Its GDP per capita has also been increasing, and last year stood at US$8,800, while the average monthly salary is now around 84,000 lek (£704). Foreign direct investment is also on the rise, with countries including Switzerland, Italy, and the Netherlands targeting sectors such as energy, mining, information and real estate to a value of around US$1.5 billion in 2022, according to UNCTAD's World Investment Report. Not bad for a country which used to depend on foreign food aid.
Sushi Kanesaka at 45 Park Lane, London
Watching Kanesaka work his magic is performance in itself
Scandic Spectrum, Copenhagen
An impressive corporate hotel just minutes from Copenhagen's centre
Kimpton Clocktower, Manchester
The perfect mix of gorgeous heritage design with cool, cosmopolitan attitude
Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, London
A stunning success another calming experience in the capital
Eurostar Business Premier LONDON-PARIS
It remains the superior service for those travelling from London to Paris
Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300ER first class DOHA-HONG KONG
There is a lot to like, but my experience was far from perfect
4 HOURS IN...Vienna
You'll be spoiled for choice when it comes to the Austrian capital's museums, galleries and historic cafes
SWITCHING OFF IN...THE LOIRE VALLEY
Escape to the secluded forests of the Loire Valley for a digital detox