Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/462634
2 | www.travelweekly-asia.com I am seated in my cocoon of a seat-cum-bed, feeling snug as a Hobbit in his little home, on my way to Middle Earth. The safety video on Air New Zealand reminds of the adventures that await me in the Land of the Long White Cloud. I am feeling rather whimsical, having just watched Mexican director Guillermo del Toro's new animated movie, "Book of Life", which carries several wise messages such as 'be yourself', 'follow your heart' and 'write your own story'. So while the rest of the passengers are fast asleep – one man is snoring away as I imagine Gandalf would if we ever caught him napping – I have decided to write my own story. Those of us who fly a lot must have, in the past months, read about those episodes of bad behaviour inflight. "Angry passenger throws hot water at stewardess, passenger opens emergency door for ventilation, passenger opens emergency door to grab a smoke …" Those headlines were striking in that they all referred to Chinese passengers and it felt like there was this sudden epidemic of bad behaviour breaking out among mainland travellers. "What on earth is happening?" "These Chinese people, they don't know how to behave." "They are so aggressive." These were some of the comments I heard from industry friends. Trying to be Gandalf-like, I tried for perspective. "Remember for every one badly behaved person, there are millions of well behaved people." Or "you know what the media is like, one story is an exception, three stories make a trend and so they are looking out for such stories". Or "I guarantee you that if I were to look out for Russians behaving badly inflight, I would also find them". Truth is, we as travellers have to prepare ourselves for a new world. In 2014, the WTO estimated there were more than one billion of us travelling. We're just beginning to see the tipping point of mass, individual travel from China. Airlines are expanding. Airports are not getting any bigger. Infrastructure's not keeping up with the growth in human consumption. There will be more and more first time travellers. "Perhaps we should start a campaign to educate first-time travellers," I ventured. "You are so naïve. The Chinese, they are different and how are you going to educate so many of them," dismissed my friend. The fact is, the process of travel is going to become more and more stressful as we struggle to keep up with the demands of a human race on the move. I found myself thinking about the Korean Air peanut incident – you know the one, daughter of chairman fired for throwing a temper on a plane for being served the wrong nuts. I think her punishment should be watching "Book of Life". Movies are wonderful education for both children and adults. Badly behaved people always get their just desserts and those who behave well always get their cake and eat it too. Time for dessert. Siew Hoon is a traveller who loves to write and a writer who loves to travel. She's combined her two loves into a career in travel journalism that has seen her launch several travel industry titles and conferences, including WIT. She loves the change and discovery that comes with travel and the business. NORTHSTAR TRAVEL MEDIA (ASIA) GROUP PUBLISHER Irene Chua Tel: (65) 6521 9786 | ichua@travelweekly.com EDITORIAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Yeoh Siew Hoon Tel: (65) 6521 9736 | syeoh@ntmllc.com EDITOR-AT-LARGE Ian Jarrett Tel: (618) 9433 6455 | ian.jarrett@travelweekly.com EDITOR Natalie Chen Tel: (65) 6521 9736 | natalie.chen@travelweekly.com TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Corinne Wan Tel: (603) 2201 1979 | corinne.wan@travelweekly.com INDIA CORRESPONDENT Neelam Mathews | neelam.mathews@gmail.com HONG KONG CORRESPONDENT Catharine Nicol | cn@monsterpix.hk INDONESIA CORRESPONDENT James Read | jim_s_read59@hotmail.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Lim Bee Bee Tel: (65) 97508 405 | bb.bbcreative@gmail.com SALES & MARKETING REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Katherine Ng Tel: (65) 6521 9742 | katherine.ng@travelweekly.com DIGITAL MEDIA MANAGER Alex Chen Tel: (65) 6521 9784 | achen@ntmllc.com CHINA OFFICE GROUP PUBLISHER (China) Rebecca Zhang Tel: (8610) 8532 3611 | rebecca.zhang@ntmllc.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Jane Zhang Tel: (8621) 5179 8360 | jane.zhang@travelweekly.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Shawn Li Tel: (8610) 8532 3611 | shawn.li@travelweekly.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Susan Li Tel: (8610) 8532 3611 | susan.li@travelweekly.com MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES HONG KONG/MACAU ZAM International - Manna Ma Tel: (852) 9650 0518 | manna.ma@zamintl.com.hk KOREA Young Media Inc - Keon Chang Tel: (822) 2273 4833 | ymedia@chol.com INDIA MHI Communications - Smriti Khanna Tel: (9198) 1040 7483 | skhanna@mhi.com.hk AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR - ASIA Patti Mo | patti.mo@travelweekly.com DATABASE & FULFILLMENT MANAGER Zoe Chu | zoe.chu@travelweekly.com FINANCE ASIA FINANCE MANAGER Nicole Yong | nyong@ntmllc.com CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Thomas L. Kemp CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Lisa Cohen PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL MEDIA Thomas Cintorino EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GROUP PUBLISHER David Blansfield SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lori Cioffi SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Arnie Weissmann SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES Janine L. Bavoso VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING SOLUTIONS Michelle Rosenberg VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION Roberta Muller VICE PRESIDENT, CONTENT LICENSING Sheila Rice VICE PRESIDENT, IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS Rich Mastropietro VICE PRESIDENT, DATABASE PRODUCTS Elizabeth Koesser Published by NORTHSTAR TRAVEL MEDIA SINGAPORE PTE LTD SINGAPORE 61 Ubi Avenue 1, #05-17 UB Point, Singapore 408941 • TEL: +65-6521 9742 | FAX: +65-6521 9788 BEIJING Room 024, Building 8, Qijiayuan Diplomatic Compound, No.9 Jianguomenwai Street, Chaoyang District 100600, China • TEL: +8610-8532 3611 | FAX: +8610-8532 5293 SHANGHAI Room 2553, The Headquarters Building, No.168 Central XiZhang Road, Shanghai 200001, China • TEL: +8621-5179 8360 | FAX: +8621-5179 8360 Travel Weekly Asia is published on a monthly basis by Northstar Travel Media Singapore Pte Ltd, located at 61 Ubi Avenue 1, #05-17 UB Point, Singapore 408941. All rights reserved. Volume 6 Issue 2 Please address all subscription mail to the above address, Fax +852 3020 5794, or email travelweeklyasia@asia-ad.net. Online Subscription: www.travelweekly-asia.com/subscribe For reprints or copyright permission contact Wright's media at +877 652 5295 ext 102 or niademarco@wrightsmedia.com http://wrightsmedia.com/reprints/contact.cfm?magrid=3500 Printed by SUN RISE PRINTING & SUPPLIES PTE LTD REFLECTIONS ON THE WAY TO MIDDLE EARTH TALKING POINT