The 2010s

from Travelweek - April 13, 2023

The 2000s

No one could pronounce it, but for a few days it was all the travel industry could talk about: Eyjafjallajokull. When the Iceland volcano erupted in April 2010, flights were grounded over large swaths of Europe, impacting the travel plans of some 10 million travellers. It wasn’t the best start to the decade, but things quickly got back on track, leading to some incredibly profitable years for many travel suppliers and retailers. With the 2008 Great Recession in the rearview mirror, people were ready to travel. And thanks to social media platforms, from Facebook to Instagram, they were posting envy-inducing travel pics, stoking even more wanderlust.

One major travel retailer didn’t make it to the end of the ‘10s. When Sears Canada filed for creditor protection in June 2017, the future of one of the best-known brands in the retail travel industry – Sears Travel – was up in the air. Later that year TravelBrands, which managed Sears Travel, rebranded it as The Travel Experts.

TravelBrands’ parent company, Red Label Vacations, made headlines earlier in the decade when along with Thomas Cook North America’s senior management it acquired Thomas Cook’s North American assets, including Sunquest, Holiday House, FunSun Vacations, Encore CruiseEscapes and ALBATours. Speaking of Thomas Cook, that legendary travel brand was no more by the end of the ‘10s. In 2019 Thomas Cook filed for liquidation, stranding some 600,000 passengers worldwide.

There was more airline news: the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX took effect in March 2019, and finally lifted in Canada in early 2021. The rush to launch low-cost carriers continued unabated, including Air Canada’s Rouge and WestJet’s Swoop. In May 2019 Air Canada and Transat stunned the industry with news of their proposed merger. Two years later, as the pandemic raged on, the agreement was officially terminated.

TRAVELWEEK WAS THERE: After an incredible 27 years at the helm of Travelweek, Patrick Dineen retired at the end of 2015. Kathryn Folliott, who joined Travelweek in 1995, took over as editor, and Cindy Sosroutomo, with Travelweek since 2007, was named deputy editor. Meanwhile Travelweek Group owner Gerry Kinasz took the title of chairman, and Devin Kinasz was named publisher. Travelweek Group’s initiatives in the 2010s included the must-read Travelweek Daily, a completely revamped Travelweek.ca, the French-language industry news site Profession Voyages, and a new title - Travel Professional.