Ian Jarrett, Editor at Large
Traditional publishing also has to adapt.
Travel Weekly Asia looks forward to the challenge. We will be more international in outlook, recognising that globalisation has changed the way we all operate. We’ll also be more diverse in the topics we cover and the insights we offer to our readers.
When a former mayor of the Florida city of St Petersburg bid US$400 to take a 23-minute flight on a wooden biplane across Tampa Bay he became – on January 1, 1914 - the world’s first commercial air passenger.
One hundred years ago, US$400 was the equivalent today of about US$10,000, the cost of a first class lie-flat bed on a Singapore Airlines A380 return flight from Changi to Heathrow.
When I last checked, US$400 today would buy a return Air Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong and leave enough in your pocket for a couple of night’s stay in a reasonable hotel in Kowloon.
Some100,000 flights take to the sky each day carrying about eight million people across the world. In 2013 more than three billion people flew in hundreds of domestic and international airlines. By 2017, that figure will reach 3.9 billion.
Sure, the airlines are putting the squeeze on passengers. At the back of the plane, legroom is shrinking, meals are disappearing and excess baggage charges are almost unavoidable.
On the flip side, airports are becoming destinations in their own right, allowing a much more enjoyable experience as you wait for that delayed flight. And aircraft manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing are turning out more efficient better designed planes.
The travel trade is also changing. Online travel agents, hybrid business models, mobile apps, big data, dynamic pricing and new regulations are just some of the challenges facing the industry.
Traditional publishing also has to adapt.
Travel Weekly Asia looks forward to the challenge. We will be more international in outlook, recognising that globalisation has changed the way we all operate. We’ll also be more diverse in the topics we cover and the insights we offer to our readers.
It was Thomas Jefferson who said: “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”
Welcome onboard for the next stage of the journey.
* Ian Jarrett is a widely travelled and experienced writer specialising in hospitality and aviation. His work has appeared in a variety of consumer and travel trade titles, and online newswires. Recent travels have taken him to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Seoul, Kazakhstan, United Kingdom and Bali, although he is just a happy walking with his dog on a local beach, enjoying a glass of Margaret River red wine or listening to his neighbour’s hens clucking around the garden.