Blue Monday 💙
I hope you got through Blue Monday ok.
We know that 17 January, AKA the most depressing day of the year, is an invention – designed as a PR stunt for travel firms looking to sell holidays.
But travel firms are in a tricky position, so I think we can go easy on them.
I mean, we’re all our own travel reps now. Who needs to ask Bob at Lunn Poly to book their flights and accommodation for them when we have Skyscanner, Hotels .com and Avis?
Well actually, plenty of us, according to Virtuoso, the US-based network of agents, which says it saw the number of people seeking a travel adviser grow 50% in 2021 compared to the previous year.
That’s because of the pandemic.
A raft of ever-changing travel restrictions, testing rules and last-minute cancellations has made travel more complicated than ever; people have lost time and money trying to navigate new bookings and refunds themselves, and so the guidance of an expert travel agent who do it all for them is valuable once again.
Who’d have thought?
But you know where I’m going here…
There may be a raft of do-it-yourself investment options out there, free gurus and TikTok influencers, but on the other hand, there’s also some high-profile potential complications. For example inflation. What happens if you do the wrong thing with your money?
In this climate, you could say advice is almost essential.
Mega holidays
There’s a boom in holiday bookings for big groups of extended family. Unique Homestays says larger houses suitable for a ‘multigenerational celebration’ are proving especially popular; a third of 2022 availability at all its houses that sleep more than eight has already been taken (as against 12% at the same point pre-pandemic).
Work lovers
A sixth of people who retire before the age of 66 go back to work according to Aviva. Around half say it was either to get ‘a new sense of purpose’ or because they missed the social aspects.
Tasty TV
A lickable TV screen that can replicate food flavours has been developed in Japan. Taste the TV (TTTV) uses a carousel of ten flavour canisters that can be sprayed onto hygienic film over a flat screen.
Extended reality
Searches for ‘extended reality’ (XR) have increased 92% in the last 24 months. XR describes immersive technologies: virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. These technologies extend reality by adding to, or simulating, the real world through digital materials. Yikes…
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