Winter isn’t far away, and as the temperature drops, many of us understandably choose to escape to sunnier climes.
It’s been a turbulent time for the airline and travel industry in recent months. The collapse of Monarch, and the Ryanair pilot holidays debacle with numerous subsequent cancellations, set the wheels in motion for a complete business disaster.
But figures released last week show that the industry is resilient – and in many respects, literally on the up.
Indeed, amidst all the negatives, it was really encouraging to hear good news close to home after both Glasgow and Edinburgh airports revealed a significant rise in passenger numbers.
More than 1.2 million passengers passed through Edinburgh Airport in September – an increase of 8.4 per cent on September 2016.
And Glasgow recorded its busiest September EVER, with more than 972,900 passengers travelling through – an increase of four per cent on September 2016.
So sunseekers clearly aren’t letting all the business bother put them off.
That’s something that will consistently make the travel industry fly high – people are always going to want to travel to the sun. And as the variety of destinations to choose from expands, and booking systems become more accessible, that number is only going to grow even more.
People are becoming much more experimental with their holiday choices and adventure-seekers are often willing to spend thousands on once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.
Travel industry bigwigs certainly also know what pushes customers’ buttons. Despite all the Ryanair chaos, passengers on its flights reached one million in September. Now, you could say that’s down to customer loyalty with passengers opting to stick by their airline. But it’s more likely that bosses slashed the prices of flights across the globe as a subtle apology to customers and everyone took them up on it.
Whatever the case, it worked like a charm.
While flight and travel companies are at the heart of airports, we shouldn’t forget about the shops and retail outlets which support passengers as they make their way from country to country.
Airports offer a glimpse of the history and culture of a city. Whether you’re arriving or departing, it’s nice to get a flavour of what the country is all about. Airports provide a microcosm of the retail industry wrapped up in a lot of different of sights and sounds.
Of course, when looking at how the travel industry impacts on business, we shouldn’t forget about those passengers arriving here from abroad. News that the number of overseas visitors arriving in Scotland has risen by 10 per cent neatly complements the passenger increases at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports.
Between April and June 2017, there was a 21 per cent increase in the number of overseas visitors compared with the same period in 2016. And it seems that there has been a marked increase in visitors arriving particularly from North America.
Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, said the fact that international passengers are driving continued growth shows Scotland’s global appeal. Essentially, people from overseas want to say that they’ve experienced Scotland and all it has to offer.
That’s understandable as we offer a fantastic visitor experience, with Scottish tourism development agencies working all year round to consider ways in which the country can maximise its international potential.
Scotland’s history, culture and heritage is so rich and interesting that there are still many of us who choose to stay at home for the holidays too. There are more domestic flights than ever before thanks to operators like Flybe, which now has an extensive programme covering the Highlands and Islands.
The airline is making some serious inroads in the likes of Orkney, Shetland and Lewis thanks to competitive pricing, reliability and bigger, faster aircraft.
It’s been interesting to monitor what’s happening in the travel industry over the last few weeks. Let’s hope our journey to the end of the year is smooth with no bumpy landings.
Loads of people dream of living in a mansion but never expect it to actually happen.
Unless you suddenly win the lottery, for most, the idea of living in a house that costs more than a million quid is nothing but fantasy.
But recently there’s been a bit of a new trend for flogging houses in a really unconventional way – through competitions and raffles.
You might remember the Win Your Dream Home competition that launched a few months ago with the chance to win a fancy property in Lanarkshire. It boasted a swimming pool, games room and more.
It was unveiled in a flurry of good publicity but hit a big snag when PayPal decided it was no longer going to support transactions relating to ‘house prize draws’.
As far as I know it’s still ongoing but no doubt this will have seriously impacted the revenue generated. It also attracted a fair bit of negative commentary from entrants who had their PayPal entry fees refunded.
You might expect this to have put off other property owners from going down the same path – but apparently not.
A snazzy £1.7million, six-bed mansion in Aberdeenshire has just gone up for grabs via a competition.
This one costs £25 to enter but you also need to be good at word games, because owner Donna Pirie wants entrants to tackle a Christmas crossword too.
She’s been quite creative in her approach and brought charitable giving into the equation too, by pledging £1million to a good cause using £5 from each ticket sold.
Selling your home this way is certainly unorthodox and a bold move but I’m sure a fair few people will be tempted by a fully furnished mansion with its own housekeeper for year!
It Made Me Laugh
TV series The Apprentice is in full swing and as usual it’s a mix of captivating and cringeworthy viewing.
The best script writers in the world couldn’t make up some of the quotes you hear on the show.
During the recent interior decorating challenge, one of the contestants mentioned ‘fir trees’. Nothing strange about that.
Until her colleague asked “Is there such a thing as a tree with fur?”
These people are meant to be there for their tremendous business acumen and they’re asking questions like that. Give me strength!
But still, I can’t stop watching. Wonder what clangers they’ll drop this Wednesday?
It Made Me Weep
Yet again, we’ve had stories of Brexit uncertainty and I reckon it will be a while before we see the last of them.
A new Scottish government report has called for our businesses to have a voice as negotiations are underway to leave the EU.
Scots shortbread firm Walkers relies on seasonal staff and is reportedly worried. So is the University of Edinburgh as 26 per cent of its staff and 15 per cent of its students are from the EU.
Even the Scottish Professional Football League chipped in to say Scottish clubs benefit from the flexibility to employ players from Europe.
It’s sad that there are still so many more questions than answers and it’s no wonder Scottish companies are losing patience.
