While predictions are multiplying as to when international business travellers will be able to return, some market players are already hard at work putting in place concrete options, and in fact accelerate this recovery timetable. This is the case of Singapore which, since the start of the crisis, has been exploring new concepts to encourage business travellers to return. Far from ideological considerations, the Asian hub has adopted an approach pragmaticsummarised around the triptych "Learn, Test, Build. The construction of the new hotel perfectly embodies this logic. Connect@Changiwhich is preparing to welcome its first customers at beginning of March.
The new establishment, which opened just a 5-minute drive from theChangi airportoffers a unique travel experience. On arrival at the Asian hub, after undergoing the unavoidable PCR testThe hotel takes care of transporting them to their rooms. A 19m² room, with a shelf in front of it so that the hotel's staff can place each meal on the table. Because the principle of the Connect@Changi hotel is to keep foreign visitors in a relaxed atmosphere. fully hermetic bubblewith a range of wellness options - two park-like courtyards have been installed, as well as a fitness area, the "Gym Pod -They are not allowed to leave the hotel. What's more, the hotel is taking advantage of its proximity to the airport to play the complementary card: hotel guests can, for example, order meals via Changi Eats, the Singapore hub's delivery service, or access the duty-free shopping offer. In short, it's a kind of quarantine in an adapted infrastructure, except that Connect@Changi has been designed to meet its local partners.
In fact, the hotel makes it possible to organise meetings with the local population - that's the whole point of this original concept, dubbed "test-stay-work-meet" - thanks to meeting rooms designed to avoid all physical contact. Hotel guests can therefore hold meetings with their Singaporean counterparts or other foreign guests, thanks to a system of hermetically sealed glass panels. " From videoconferencing can also be organised on a large scale, making it possible toorganising hybrid meetings "say the project managers, who explain that ". Singapore-based visitors are not required to undergo testing when accessing the facilities, as foreign travellers and local visitors have completely separate entrances, exits and ventilation systems. ".
we are ready to offer business travellers the opportunity to resume face-to-face meetings securely, and to do our part in catalysing economic recovery in Singapore and across the region.
" Without such a facility, travel options are essentially binary: stay at home because of travel restrictions, or fly abroad and endure long periods of quarantine. "says Robin Hu, Head of International Policy and Governance at Temasekand Chairman of SingEx-Sphere Holdings. After nearly four months of construction Through intensive, 24-hour collaboration with our partners, various government agencies, suppliers and contractors, we are now ready to offer business travellers the opportunity to resume face-to-face meetings securely, and to do our part in catalysing economic recovery in Singapore and across the region. "he continues.
Of course, business travellers will have to make do - at least for a while - with the bleisure which has made the reputation of the Asian hub - in particular street food, recently recognised by UNESCO... But this experiment could well help to revive the meetings sector, and position Singapore as "the place to be". The place to meet" . A status already implicitly validated by the relocation of the World Economic Forumwhich this year will be moving from Davos to the City-State.
A highly ambitious roadmap
And if we are to believe the roadmap drawn up by those in charge of the project, which includes Temasek, the parent company of Singapore Airlines in particular, as well as hotelier Ascott Limited and Changi Airport, demand for such an alternative is set to grow among a growing number of business travellers. While the hotel will "only" have 150 rooms and 40 meeting rooms when it opened to the public at the beginning of March, the offer should quickly boom. Those in charge of Connect@Changi aim to achieve 660 bedrooms and 170 meeting rooms from May. Eventually, the "bubble" hotel should be able to accommodate up to 1,300 business travellers at a time.
