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| Uguette Chiasson, president, Logimonde inc. |
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I opened my newspaper this morning to see, on page 25, the headline: The World is Starving. I’ve heard it said before that there are people starving in the world, but in 2011, it’s a fair generalization to say “the world is starving.”
I quote Jean-Marc Léger: “While people gorge themselves during the holidays, others will not have enough” and it’s known that many Canadians have visited food banks in order to feed their family this year.
There was also a table in the newspaper outlining the suffering in the world, mainly in Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific and India. Many of us in the travel industry have visited these countries and have seen this despair first-hand.
We always ask ourselves how we can help – that’s the million dollar question. We drop a little change for charity on the return flight, we donate following major tragedies in hopes of helping, but what else can we do? More and more, we see the people in these countries rebelling and we wonder, will it work out for the people? Only time will tell.
It’s difficult to try and predict what’s to come in 2012. Economists expect that 2012 will be a difficult year in Canada (because of the instability throughout Europe and the United States) and these tough economic times have already begun to affect some travel suppliers.
A lot happened this past year in our industry. From restructuring to job cuts, we can agree that 2011 was not always an easy year.
I hope that 2012 will bring both personal and professional good fortune to everyone in our industry. I hope that Canada’s travel companies regain their financial stability so that everyone can work in a happy and stress-free environment.
I wish everyone in our industry all the best for the season, happiness for the New Year and I look forward to seeing you in 2012.
In 2012, the Logimonde group (ExpressVoyage.ca, TRAVELHotNews.com, HelloWestTravel.com, QuickPresse.com and DoingAnEvent.com) will celebrate its 20th anniversary and you can be sure that we have plenty of surprises in store.
Uguette Chiasson, president, Logimonde
And the entire Logimonde team
