TravelMole’s Christmas Message
From Graham McKenzie
“I hope Her Majesty won’t mind, but Annus Horribilus seems the only way to describe the last 12 months for the travel industry.
Where do I begin? Civil unrest in the Far East and Europe (where it’s still going on), volcanic ash from an obscure mountain in Iceland, strikes in the UK, France and Spain, a World Cup, a General Election, a depressed economy, and rising taxes on virtually anything to do with flying from A to P and D.
Now, to top it all, the UK’s airports have been brought pretty much to a halt by extreme snow and ice and once again the media is full of stories and images of disgruntled passengers stranded – and in the busiest weekend of the festive season
“I don’t know about you, but I am fully expecting a plague of PNR eating, aviation fuel drinking locusts to arrive shortly before New Year’s Eve!!
So, there is little doubt that this has been one hell of a year for those of us who earn our corn from the travelling public, but has it been THAT bad ?
One of the almost irrefutable facts that has emerged from this year is that taking a trip or a holiday is no longer seen as a ‘like to have’. Long gone are the days of day trips and picnics with mum and dad instead of two weeks in the sun. “Where are you going on holiday this year ?” is not normally met with a “Oh just staying at home, we can’t afford it this year”.
People will give up a lot, save a lot or borrow a lot to ensure that the two week holiday is still taken. It’s accepted that this might be a different holiday (witness the rise of the all-inclusive), but a holiday nevertheless.
Sadly, throughout 2010 a number of companies have gone to the wall but perhaps not as many as was thought likely 12 months ago. In fact, with reduced overheads, reduced capacity and greater investment in more efficient technology many companies have seen their bottom line improving.
We at TravelMole have also been investing and hopefully 2011 will see the announcement of some significant additions to our stable of product offerings and indeed the way we deliver information. Our investigative journalism will also reach new heights in the first quarter with the revelation of Bikileaks, where the mid-morning eating habits of travel executives will be exposed. Later we will follow up with Fikileaks, an expose of some of the more questionable strategy decisions made, and finally in very early April (taking the) Mikileaks.
As a lead up to that I would like to thank all of you who have read, contributed, criticised and responded to TravelMole in the past 12 months. On behalf of the team, I would like to wish you a very safe, successful and locust free 2011.”
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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