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Hi there,
Let's start with an interesting non-travel related data chart before we get to business.
We are in month 6 of the pandemic and work-from-home has become the new routine for most of us.
Harvard and the NYU now published some first hard stats on the impact of COVID-19 on the nature of WFH. They compared employee behavior before and after lockdowns by analyzing 3.1 million office workers in North America, Europa, and the Middle East.
The results: the pandemic workday at home is characterized by longer hours, more emails, and more meetings (meaning video calls).
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On the bright side, the average length of meetings fell by 20%. So overall, we spend less time in meetings.
I believe that's something good. Especially since most meetings could just be emails or Slack messages.
But I'm not sure what else to think about these stats yet. Are we better off at home from a productivity and well-being perspective? What’s your take? Let me know on Twitter.
Now, back to business and today’s newsletter. As travel and mobility providers are preparing for the restart, we asked ourselves how traveler behavior has changed in the Covid-19 reality. Find out below.
Today’s specs: 523 words or about 2:05 minutes of reading time.
Lennart Dobravsky
Director Research & Intelligence, Lufthansa Innovation Hub
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As people in China, South Korea, and Japan begin to travel again, we wanted to find out how attitudes toward travel might have changed since the lockdown.
So, we surveyed 500+ travelers from these three countries to better understand their attitudes, expectations, and behaviors in the new COVID-19 reality.
The results may serve as guidance for markets and travel providers that are currently trying to ramp up their businesses.
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In addition to the survey results, our local Asian Team took a closer look at how Chinese travel-tech companies have adapted to these mind shifts.
Learn more about the latest product offerings by China's largest OTAs at the end of the article.
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The startups making travel greener
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Speaking of the subject of changing traveler attitudes. One of the macro trends we truly believe in is the rapidly rising environmental awareness of travelers.
Over the next years, we expect travelers to be voting with their dollars — against unsustainable brands. The legacy companies that will thrive are those that accept this shift and are willing to actively adapt.
Since our mothership is a legacy player as well, we have been pushing for digital innovation on the greener-travel front a lot. In fact, sustainability has been one of our focus topics at the Lufthansa Innovation Hub over the past year – both in terms of product development (e.g. check out Compensaid) as well as research efforts.
You might remember our previous content pieces on:
- How travelers' intentions to travel greener do not translate into action and what travel providers can (and must) do about it (part 1 and part 2)
- How major urban transport modes rank based on their carbon-emission output (infographic)
- The 50+ most relevant sustainability startups in Travel and Mobility Tech (which is one of our most successful articles ever)
Click to read in full
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In the context of well-researched startup lists, European VC data provider Dealroom recently published their own Sustainable Tourism Landscape, a free list of young travel-related companies clustered into major categories.
If you're interested in the digital challengers working on the greener future of travel, you'll like this one.
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Our recommended must reads
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IT SEEMS SAFE – If you decide to fly, there is a 1/4300 chance of getting Covid-19 on a full 2-hour flight according to latest research.
 Read more in Bloomberg
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VIDEO: HOW TO MAKE IT EVEN SAFER – Touchless check-in, plexiglass shields, temperature checks, back-to-front boarding, and planes with empty middle seats are all now part of the flying experience, and the future may bring even more changes.
Watch video on WSJ
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NO ONE'S SAFE – Later than any of its peers, Booking.com announced Tuesday it will be restructuring, and eliminating up to 25 percent of its global employee base, or roughly 4,300 employees.
Read more by Skift
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THE SUPERSONIC DREAM – Space tourism venture Virgin Galactic announced it signed an agreement with Rolls-Royce to develop an aircraft for supersonic travel, giving a first look at the coming vehicle’s design.
Read more on CNBC
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E-BIKES > SHARED BIKES – E-bike sharing platforms might be China’s next investment craze after the bike-sharing race between 2016 and 2018 — where millions of bikes were poured onto China’s streets by several private Chinese companies — ended with several bankruptcies and a few acquisitions.
Read more by kr-asia
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Most recent Venture Capital deals
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= Exit Alert (startup listed at the stock exchange or got acquired)
= Unicorn Alert (post-deal company valuation at >$1B) 
