Current Events and their Effects on the Travel Industry

The recent issue in the travel industry has to do with all of the world’s current events, like the Japanese Tsunami, the war in Iraq, the tension in Egypt, the list can go on and on. The tension created between countries causes travelers to stop traveling. When feuds exist, travelers do not like to take the chance to travel to certain countries.

An article from UPI.com points out that one of the reasons why travelers are waiting to travel is because of the recent increase in fuel prices. The recent increase in fuel prices has reflected on plane tickets, food prices and total transportation.

Two large travel corporations, Delta and Carnival are reporting the numbers. Millions of travelers are hesitant about traveling. The two companies have reported that the recent crises are affecting their business and the travel industry as a whole.

“Delta has cut back on flights to Japan's Tokyo Narita International Airport by 15 percent to 20 percent since the March 11 9-magnitude earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, Ed Bastian, Delta president said Tuesday at the J.P. Morgan Aviation Transportation and Defense Conference in New York. The Tokyo run is a hub for Delta, bringing in more than $2 billion a year, and the service disruption could cost the airline as much as $400 million, Bastian said.”

The political issues in the Middle East and North Africa have caused Carnival Cruise lines to lose business. So much so that $44 million dollars has recently been lost. The cruise line had to remove all of the stops in the Middle East and North Africa.

Current world events really take a toll on every industry, but the travel industry is always affected when severe events occur. People like to keep it safe and stay close to home when they see a disaster.

Between the economy the way it is and the recent crises around the world, it is going to take a while for the travel industry to pick back up. People have to feel secure and they have to have the money to travel.


http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/03/23/Crises-hit-travel-industry-hard/UPI-99031300928394/

The Internet is Ruining Travel Journalism

It seems that every travel journalist that I have interviewed or talked to has warned me about the field. They admit that the field used to be quite prosperous, but now they make close to nothing because of the Internet. I personally do not look at this as a road stop, but more of a challenge. I understand the Internet is my main competitor and that it is extremely hard to get works published in magazines, but my route has to do with vlogging and television.

On the topic, I currently read an article by Jeremy Head, which is a writer for tnooz (a talking travel tech website). Head points out that the Internet is beating travel journalism. He first explains how the newspaper industry is fading fast and how newspapers were an outlet where travel journalism was harvested and read. Head also discusses how travel itself is declining. People aren’t traveling because they do not have money from the current economy. I know that the travel will start to pick up as soon as the economy does. It is sad to see such an interesting field diminish and be taken over by sights such as yelp and Trip Advisor. Travel journalism is an art and has a flowing type of writing, while travel sites are direct and show no passion towards the location.

My plan is to travel and reveal why certain cultures eat the foods that they do. This will include what economic, religious and regional effects have on the food. The title is Food Through Culture and hopefully people will be interested in knowing why they are eating some of the foods that they do. I promise not to give up travel journalism and I hope to restore passion in the travel industry. By showing viewers that travel is important, broadens the senses and captivates cultures they will be inspired to travel and to read travel journalism.

http://www.tnooz.com/2009/10/01/news/the-internet-is-ruining-travel-journalism/