Ryanair's cautious. Are oil prices or Facebook to blame?

By - Tim Gunstone

Ryanair is cautious about future growth…it blames oil prices, I would like to know if customer mobile browsing habits or Facebook is also an issue?

The Irish Times on Wednesday last week told us “Despite plans to cut its winter capacity, and the hedging the airline has put in place, it expects its fuel bill will rise by €350 million in its 2012 financial year. As a result, net profit is expected to remain flat at about €400 million, a level that falls considerably below previous market expectations of €490 million.” 


For the full story go to http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0524/1224297637594.html

Is the travel industry in rude health? Or just doing a Nero and watching their industry burn?

By - Tim Gunstone


If the last 2 years have been hard for you as a travel professional, it’s been really hard for me as a publisher of travel conferences, news and research articles. In the hands of cost focussed (and I would say) short sighted CFOs, the industry limited their purchases of research, conferences and pretty much anything that helped you plan for a successful future ….this made life in EyeforTravel harder for a while.

But the first half of 2011 has seen a 100% turn around, dynamism and optimism is back and as a result all of our shows have grown. This belies my grim weekly reading of the Economist. So who is right, the seemingly dynamic travel industry? or the doom and gloom of the Economists?