As I sit in my office at the start of 2010, I am reflecting on the travel industry events of 2009 and what has already happened in the industry in this young year. 2009 was revolutionized by social media – instant information in the new age and new words like “twitter” and “facebook”; travelers knew what was happening while it was happening and had hundreds of new followers and friends! Is this a good thing? Only time will tell …
In 2009 there were drastic price cuts in hotel room nights, airfare and tour packages – we saw hotels go into receivership, DMCs go out of business and our international partners guaranteeing rates into 2011 to show stakeholders that if they could just hold on until 2011 things will be better.
But will they? We rang in the New Year with a terrorist trying to blow up a plane, which led to new TSA regulations, and now security checks at airports will take longer with full body scans in some cities. And everything you read says the trends in travel will include more fees with consumers wanting more value on already deeply discounted rates.
So why do we do it – travel, I mean? Based on everything I have just said it seems like we would all be better off just staying where we are – avoiding long lines, security checkpoints, all of the hassles and all of the fees. Well, we travel because we can’t stay put – we’re nomadic people who want to see and explore new places regardless of lines or fees. Have you ever asked someone what is the one place they would like to see in their lifetime? Nine times out of 10, it will be some place they have read about or seen on the Discovery Channel, and most likely it’s not in their home town. Mine is EGYPT – I want to ride a camel in front of the pyramids!
