PERHAPS the best bit about being a journalist is having the opportunity to meet so many interesting people from all walks of life, of which there are many in the travel industry. As we wrap up the year, I’m reflecting on some of the cool people that I’ve had the privilege of coming across.
Reporters get fed spin a lot and it’s our job to untangle a lot of those messages and separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. I guess that’s why it’s refreshing when I come across someone in my line of work who is authentic and speaks to me like a human, rather than reading cue cards from their marketing department (although to be fair, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and I totally appreciate that).
When I was working on Travel Daily’s travel tech special report, I really enjoyed chatting to John Morhous, Global Chief Experience Officer at Flight Centre. He’s a straight shooter and tells it like it really is.
For example, here’s what he said about the untapped opportunities within the travel sector:
“Travel is an innately personal experience and it’s one that’s still completely disconnected between everything. It’s so alarming that in 2024, when an airport is stopping flights from landing because of the weather, it takes the airline an hour and a half to tell you.
Those things just don’t make sense in a modern world, given the fact that (Donald) Trump could send one little message through X at light speed, and people in Australia know what he said before me.”
Then at Travel Daily’s new event, Travel24, disability advocate and TedX speaker Azure Antoinette gave attendees a lot to think – and laugh – about. Somehow she managed to squeeze in a joke about the two kangaroos mating in her front yard and the crowd ate it up.
During my career, I’ve covered businesses from various sectors and I’d say that when it comes to issues like diversity, equity and inclusion, so many of them are terrified of getting it wrong and being ‘cancelled’, so they don’t do anything at all. It’s something that Azure tackled during her presentation:
“The best thing [a tourism business] can do if a mistake or an infraction has been made, or something has been brought to your attention…own that,” she said.
“And then say ‘we’re going to work on it’ and get the people in the room who will help you understand what [it] is, whether it’s sensory overload, neurodivergence, whether that’s visible disability… it doesn’t have to be as polarising as it is now.”
I asked my colleague Cruise Weekly Editor Myles Stedman for his thoughts on his favourite interviewees of the year and Hedda Felin, CEO at Hurtigruten, was the first name he could think of. Myles asked Felin questions about sustainability and to his surprise, she was willing to provide fresh and honest takes, even on the toughest issues facing the sector.
She described the cruise industry as being “so far behind” in its preparation for sustainable sailing, instead turning to lobbying in an effort to convince the government to strike down its proposed regulations.
“The cruise companies lobby quite hard that if there are environmental regulations, the tourists will not come, which is not true,” Felin told Myles.
“[Norway has] the most beautiful coast in the world, there are increasing amounts of tourists, it’s okay if it slows down, there will still be plenty of people. [They] will not stop being interested in the Northern Lights and midnight sun.”
In more recent news, Qantas was ordered by the ACCC to pay $120 million for misleading customers, making amends with 86,000 passengers booked on cancelled flights. Payments range between $225 and $450.
“We recognise Qantas let down customers and fell short of our own standards and we know many of our customers were affected by our failure to provide cancellation notifications in a timely manner,” Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said.
Meanwhile, Tourism Research Australia has found that unfortunately, our international visitor numbers are still lagging by 21% on pre-pandemic. The solution? Australian Tourism Industry Council Chair Evan Hall believes the Federal Government needs to stick a rocket up the marketing of Australia to lure visitors back to our shores. COVID had “a devastating impact” on regional businesses in particular, which are still struggling to recover.
“The Australian Government has underinvested in tourism marketing,” Hall declared.
“International marketing funding has declined in real terms and should have been significantly increased to recover our international visitors.”
Most of you would know of the devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake that hit Vanuatu on Tuesday, with 148 Australians being evacuated from the island. Thankfully, the Vanuatu Tourism Office confirmed that despite the disaster, many tourism sites and facilities remain operating and the Bauerfield Airport, which was closed for 72 hours, is now safe for commercial aircraft.
Air Vanuatu also advised that domestic services have been suspended until further notice.
In other news, the Chinese Government has relaxed its visa-free transit policy, allowing Australians to access longer transit stays in the country, extending them to 10 days from the original six-day limit.
Friday also saw the naming of Bud Darr as the new President & Chief Executive Officer of Cruise Lines International Association.
The accomplished global maritime leader most recently served as MSC’s Executive Vice President, Maritime Policy & Government Affairs, having previously led CLIA’s maritime technical and regulatory affairs.
He is now back at CLIA to sit in the big chair, replacing Kelly Craighead, whose departure was announced back in September.
Without further ado, merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all in the travel industry – we’ll see you all back for our first week of publishing in the first week on 6 January.
Jo
