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that characterised the immediate post-pandemic months . AI , AR ( augmented reality ) and VR ( virtual reality ) may play a role somewhere along the incentive travel supply chain but TR ( tactile reassurance ) will always prevail — unless , and until , the machines take over ! ( BTW , “ TR ” is a term I borrowed from Tyler Brûlé editor of Monocle magazine ). |
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Dream of Europe Andrew Martin ’ s “ A dream of Europe ” ( Financial Times , Sat 15 April / Sun 16 April 2023 ) was the other article that caught my eye . Martin ’ s long-form article is about the night train , for years lost in the doldrums of low-cost air travel but now riding the crest of the sustainability wave .
Just eight years ago , in 2015 , Deutsche Bahn abandoned its City Night Line sleepers , regarded as the backbone of the European network . Martin published a book in the same year entitled Night Trains ; The Rise & Fall of the Sleeper . He tried to ride the Orient Express on its traditional route from Paris to Istanbul but by then the journey terminated in Strasbourg . However , no sooner had we pronounced the death of this typical feature of European rail travel than its rebirth has started to materialise , phoenix-like from its very own ashes . Dutch entrepreneur Elmer van Buuren will launch his Good Night Train with service between Berlin and Brussels via Amsterdam later this year , adding , in 2025 , service between Amsterdam and Barcelona . Needless to say , his website highlights how sleeper trains are “ better for the Earth ”.
Other night routes already launched , or soon to be launched , include Stuttgart to Venice , and Stockholm to Hamburg . Interesting for the purposes of this article are the luxury sleepers over a network radiating from Paris , shortly to be launched by start-up , Midnight Trains . The Italy-originating Orient
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Express La Dolce Vita will also launch in 2024 using refurbished vintage Wagon-Lits carriages .
Martin links the resurgence of night trains to the Flygskam or Flight Shame movement and references a new term Tågskryt ( Train Brag ) as further evidence of the clear connection between the rebirth of sleeper trains and the present zeitgeist . He quotes environmentalist John Stewart , “ there ’ s a whole new attitude compared to 10 years ago ” and flags the drafting of the 2019 European Green Deal as a watershed moment .
The implications for business events are obvious . With sleeper trains , residents of Berlin can attend conferences in Amsterdam without fear of backlash or recrimination . Gladys Knight could even take the midnight train to Georgia from LA with a pure heart and mind .
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“ For incentives , a whole new ‘ slow ’ travel experience opens up , offering many of the conveniences of cruise incentives ( pack and unpack once , all-inclusive food and beverage , etc ) without the need for a super-sized cruise ship .”’ |
For incentives , meanwhile , a whole new “ slow ” travel experience opens up , offering many of the conveniences of cruise incentives ( pack and unpack once , all-inclusive food and beverage , etc ) without the need for a super-sized cruise ship .
As business events professionals , a brave new world is opening up before us , a world of limitless potential but also of uncertainty and grave danger . Our hubristic , unchecked , giddy progress as humans has left us with an unmitigated climate disaster on our hands . As event professionals let ’ s apply our creative expertise to this and start doing way more than merely paying attention to single use plastics . And when it comes to AI , let ’ s proceed with extreme caution starting with what ’ s incontrovertible , indispensable and irreplaceable : our beautiful but very fragile humanity .
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