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Fewer trips, fewer planes: business travellers rethink old habits 疫情期间视频会议的兴起、人们对环境的担忧加剧以及雇主希望削减成本，改变了人们的差旅习惯。
Covid, costs and climate issues are forcing companies to cut back on work excursions. 6park.com
妮古拉•洛马斯(Nicola Lomas)每年因工作需要飞行数十次，她多年来精心积累常旅客积分，以维护自己英国航空公司(British Airways)的“金卡”会员身份。 6park.com 6park.comA consultant in the business travel industry, she enjoyed the perks. The queue jumps at check-in, access to lounges and priority boarding for gold members helped soothe the rigours of a hectic schedule. 6park.com作为商务旅行行业的顾问，她很享受金卡福利。金卡会员办理登机手续时可以插队，可以进入休息室以及优先登机，都有助于缓解繁忙日程的紧张。 6park.com 6park.comSo she was surprised to feel a sense of relief last year when the airline delivered the news all frequent flyers had dreaded. Lomas had been downgraded all the way to “blue”, the bottom tier, losing her benefits after progressively cutting work trips over the past few years. 6park.com因此，当去年该航空公司宣布所有常旅客都害怕的消息时，她很惊讶，因为自己居然感到如释重负。洛马斯的等级被一降到底，成为最低级别的“蓝卡”会员，在过去几年里，她逐渐减少了出差旅行次数，因此失去了福利。 6park.com 6park.com“It is like a break-up in a relationship. I thought, ‘Fine, I don’t need you anymore,’” she says. “But it was a good thing. Because it has made me really think in a fresh way.” 6park.com“这就像一段关系的破裂。我想，‘好吧，我不再需要你了，’”她说。“但这是一件好事。因为它让我以一种全新的方式思考。” 6park.com 6park.comLomas is one of thousands of business people who have changed their travel schedules as habits have been reshaped by the rise in video conferencing during the pandemic, heightened environmental concerns and employers looking to cut costs. 6park.com疫情期间视频会议的兴起、人们对环境的担忧加剧以及雇主希望削减成本，改变了人们的差旅习惯，洛马斯是成千上万改变旅行计划的商界人士之一。 6park.com 6park.comSome big European and US companies have cracked down on non-essential trips, while many staff are taking longer trips to minimise repeat visits. 6park.com一些欧美大公司已经减少了非必要的差旅，而许多员工正在延长差旅时间，以尽量减少重复出差。 6park.com 6park.com“You have to have a real story behind the trip to have it approved now,” one London-based banker says. Another notes that senior staff are travelling nearly as regularly as before the pandemic, but junior staff have had trips curtailed. 6park.com一位驻伦敦的银行家表示：“现在要想获得批准，你必须有一个实实在在的出差理由。”另一人指出，高级员工的差旅几乎和疫情前一样频繁，但初级员工的差旅减少了。 6park.com 6park.comBusiness travel is not dead. Global bookings reached 70 per cent of 2019 levels in October 2023, up from 63 per cent in April, according to survey data released by the Global Business Travel Association. 6park.com商务旅行并没有消亡。全球商务旅行协会(Global Business Travel Association)发布的调查数据显示，2023年10月，全球预订量达到2019年水平的70%，高于4月份的63%。 6park.com 6park.comBankers and lawyers are still travelling to close deals. Sales representatives continue to value face-to-face meetings and many sectors, such as oil and gas or mining, cannot operate without shifting huge workforces around the world. 6park.com银行家和律师仍在四处奔波，以敲定交易。销售代表仍然重视面对面的会谈，许多行业，如石油和天然气或采矿，如果不在世界各地大规模转移劳动力，就无法运营。 6park.com 6park.comBut industry executives say the forced break from business trips during Covid-19 restrictions allowed a once formulaic part of the travel industry to adapt and as a result the experience has changed. 6park.com但行业高管表示，在新冠限制期间被迫中断商务旅行，让旅行业曾经程式化的一部分得以调整，因此体验发生了变化。 6park.com 6park.comFor Lomas, the post-pandemic business landscape can be characterised as a new focus on “purposeful travel”. 6park.com对洛马斯来说，疫情后的商业格局可以被描述为对“有目的旅行”的新关注。 6park.com 6park.comFor companies attempting to keep business travel costs down, this can mean getting the best value for money by making sure multiple meetings or events are crammed into a single, longer trip. This also helps to cut down on air travel, which is typically one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions for companies. 6park.com对于试图降低商务差旅成本的公司来说，这可能意味着确保在一次较长的旅行中安排多个会议或活动，从而获得最大的性价比。这也有助于减少航空旅行，航空旅行通常是企业碳排放的最大来源之一。 6park.com 6park.comMarriott International last year said the average length of a business trip in the US had increased by 20 per cent compared with 2019. 6park.com万豪国际(Marriott International)去年表示，与2019年相比，美国商务旅行的平均时长增加了20%。 6park.com 6park.comAmerican Express Global Business Travel, one of the world’s largest travel management companies, has also found that travellers are taking slightly longer trips and booking further in advance. 6park.com全球最大的差旅管理公司之一美国运通全球商务旅行公司(American Express Global Business Travel)也发现，旅行者的旅行时间略微延长，预订时间也更加提前了。
Nicola Lomas spent years carefully collecting frequent-flyer points to protect her British Airways “gold” status as she flew dozens of times a year for work. 6park.com
6park.comFor some travellers, the changing environment has meant trading down. The rethink on business travel has come as the price of trips has increased sharply since before the pandemic. More than half of the companies surveyed by Deloitte said they had tried to mitigate the costs of trips by opting for cheaper accommodation or lower-cost flights. 6park.com对于一些旅客来说，不断变化的环境意味着降低消费。在人们重新考虑商务旅行之际，旅行价格较疫情爆发前已大幅上涨。在德勤(Deloitte)调查的公司中，超过一半的公司表示，他们曾试图通过选择更便宜的住宿或更便宜的航班来降低差旅成本。
6park.comTowards the end of last year, PwC imposed restrictions on UK partners travelling business class, in an attempt to reduce its carbon footprint and cut costs. Only people travelling on long-haul night flights or those flying for “business-critical” reasons are now allowed to sit in business class. 6park.com去年年底，普华永道(PwC)对其英国合作人乘坐商务舱实施了限制，试图减少碳足迹并削减成本。现在，只有乘坐长途夜间航班或因为“关键业务”原因飞行的人才被允许坐商务舱。 6park.com 6park.comMarissa Thomas, managing partner at PwC UK, told the Financial Times at the time of the announcement that flights accounted for the majority of the company’s carbon emissions. “Given a business-class seat is roughly 50 per cent more carbon-intensive than one in premium economy, we’re asking partners and directors to think carefully about [whether] they need one,” she said. 6park.com普华永道英国管理合伙人玛丽莎•托马斯(Marissa Thomas)在声明发布时向英国《金融时报》表示，该公司的碳排放量大多数来自航班。她表示：“鉴于商务舱的碳排放强度比高级经济舱高出约50%，我们要求合伙人和董事仔细考虑他们是否需要乘坐商务舱。” 6park.com 6park.comUS pharmaceutical company Parexel has, meanwhile, introduced a travel policy that encourages employees to go by train instead of by air where possible. In Germany, where it has more than 750 employees, 96 per cent of all relevant domestic trips are now taken by train, the company says. 6park.com与此同时，美国制药公司Parexel推出了一项旅行政策，鼓励员工尽可能乘坐火车而不是飞机。该公司表示，在其拥有750多名员工的德国，96%的相关国内差旅现在都是乘坐火车。 6park.com 6park.comChris Pouney, an independent consultant in the travel industry, has consciously begun to choose the train over a plane, even when this results in longer journeys. 6park.com旅行行业的独立咨询师克里斯•波尼(Chris Pouney)已经有意识地开始选择火车而不是飞机，即使这会导致旅程更长。 6park.com 6park.comWhile only a fraction of flights across Europe can be conveniently replaced, Pouney says the train can compare favourably with air travel on “cost, carbon and convenience”, particularly as remote work is easier on board. 6park.com虽然整个欧洲只有一小部分航班可以方便地用火车替代，但波尼表示，火车在“成本、碳排放和便利性”方面比航空旅行更可取，尤其是在火车上远程办公更容易。 6park.com 6park.comHis trips have included an overnight journey between Munich and Milan, which he says was “an absolute joy”. 6park.com他的旅行包括在慕尼黑和米兰之间的夜间旅行，他说这是“绝对的快乐”。 6park.com 6park.com“I ordinarily would have flown that 1-1.5 hour [journey] on [a] low-cost airline . . . It was really good value on the train, and I arrived ready for business into the centre of Milan,” he says. 6park.com“我以前通常会乘坐低成本航空公司1-1.5小时的航班……而坐火车真的性价比很高，我到达米兰市中心时已经做好了谈生意的准备，”他说。 6park.com 6park.comWith employee wellbeing in focus, another growing trend is to allow employees to tack a few days’ holiday on to a business trip, or to extend their stay by working remotely from a hotel or rental apartment and enjoying the local area. 6park.com随着员工的健康受到关注，另一种日益增长的趋势是，允许员工在出差时加上几天的假期，或者通过在酒店或出租公寓远程办公来延长逗留时间，好享受当地的风土人情。 6park.com 6park.comBusiness travel company Navan says there has been an “explosion” in these so-called “bleisure” trips, thanks to flexible travel policies and the rise in flexible working. It reported a 72 per cent increase in blended travel bookings in 2023, compared with a year earlier. 6park.com商务旅行公司Navan表示，由于灵活的旅行政策和弹性工作制的兴起，这些所谓的“商务休闲”旅行出现了“爆炸式”增长。该公司报告称，2023年混合旅行预订量同比增长了72%。 6park.com 6park.com“By extending their stays for leisure activities, travellers prioritise their personal physical and mental wellbeing, which leads to higher job satisfaction and overall productivity,” the company explains. 6park.com该公司解释说：“通过延长停留时间来进行休闲活动，旅行者优先考虑他们的个人身心健康，从而提高工作满意度和整体效率。” 6park.com 6park.comThe recovery in corporate travel since it ground to a halt during Covid restrictions has been led by small and medium-sized businesses, according to Paul Abbott, chief executive of American Express Global Business Travel, which manages corporate travel and expenses for companies. 6park.com美国运通全球商务旅行公司为企业管理商务旅行和费用，首席执行官保罗•阿博特(Paul Abbott)表示，商务旅行在新冠限制期间陷入停滞，之后的复苏是由中小企业引领。 6park.com 6park.comHe says using travel management services — rather than relying on employees to make their own plans and reservations — gives companies greater control over bookings, and more granular information on who is travelling and when. 6park.com他表示，使用差旅管理服务——而不是依靠员工自己制定计划和进行预订——可以让公司更好地控制预订，并获得有关谁在何时旅行的更详细信息。 6park.com 6park.com“Cost pressures mean more scrutiny of budgets. Capturing travel-related emissions data is also necessary for those with carbon-reduction targets,” he says. 6park.com“成本压力意味着更多的预算审查。对于那些有碳减排目标的公司来说，获取与旅行相关的排放数据也是必要的。”他说。 6park.com 6park.comOliver Ranson, managing director of consultancy Airline Revenue Economics, notes that every company has restarted business travel in different ways, making sweeping conclusions on the future of corporate travel difficult. 6park.com咨询公司Airline Revenue Economics董事总经理奥利弗•兰森(Oliver Ranson)指出，每家公司都以不同的方式重启了商务旅行，因此很难对商务旅行的未来一概而论。 6park.com 6park.com“It is not sector or role-specific. It is company-specific. You might have a big global media company that is flying more than ever before. Meanwhile, the other big global media company is not flying at all . . . We have never seen anything quite like it before,” he says. 6park.com“这不是针对某个行业或某个角色下结论。而是针对某个公司。可能有一家比以往任何时候都飞得多的大型全球媒体公司。与此同时，又有另一家大型全球媒体公司根本就没有商务飞行……我们以前从未见过这样的情况，”他说。 6park.com 6park.comFor Pouney, the overarching message is to “encourage travellers to be more considered when they travel, rather than just go at the drop of a hat”. 6park.com对波尼来说，最重要的信息是“鼓励旅行者在旅行时更加深思熟虑，而不是随随便便就去”。 6park.com 6park.com“Sometimes you have to drop everything and get somewhere, and that’s fine but it is not every time. We all came back after Covid and saw it as an opportunity to restart with a blank piece of paper and say, ‘Let’s not go back to habits we had before.’” 6park.com“有时你必须放下一切，去某个地方，这很好，但不是每次都这样。新冠疫情后，我们都回来了，把这看作是一个重新开始的机会，并说，‘让我们不要回到以前的习惯。’”
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