2017, it’s time to say goodbye. At times you were wonderful, at others you were outright ridiculous.
The year was so jam-packed with cultural, global and local events, one could be blamed for forgetting what happened two weeks ago, let alone 12 months ago.
Here at Travel Weekly, we’re particularly proud of what we’ve achieved this year.
We hosted the fascinating Travel DAZE forum in September, and the utterly inspirational Women in Travel Awards just last month.
We’ve laughed, we’ve cried and now, it’s time to take a three-week-long nap.
But before we shut our eyes and count sheep, let’s take a walk through the annals of 2017 history.
No one likes missing out on a trending story, so just in case you did, you can officially bid your FOMO farewell as we revisit the biggest story of each month from the last year.
We’ve also paired them with the most memorable moment of each month, just to make this 2017 refresher even more thorough.
So without any further ado ladies and gents, here are the top stories of 2017.
January
The month of the dreaded ‘Envelopegate’.
Yep, you might’ve already forgotten, but in January of this year, Warren Beatty announced La La Land as the Oscar-winning picture for 2017. Too bad it was actually Moonlight.
In the travel space, everyone was still dealing with the Trump election like an unshakeable hangover no amount of Nurofen could fix.
It makes sense then, that the month’s biggest story was this:
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/us-visa-waiver-for-australians-under-trump-threat/
February
We might receive some criticism for this one.
But February 2017 was unquestionably the month of Beyoncé, whose pregnancy announcement over Instagram garnered more than 11 million likes.
For us travel nerds, we found entertainment in, dare we say it, a scandalous story which featured former Gold Coast mayoral candidate John Abbott suing Royal Caribbean Cruises due to a passport debacle. Tsk tsk.
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/gold-coast-man-sues-rcl-travel-masters-over-cruise-shemozzle/
March
This month’s moment is a little left of field, or should we say left of foot?
You may not have heard or remember, but in mid-March, the world’s largest dinosaur footprint at 1.7 metres was found in Kimberley, Western Australia. Pretty cool huh?
On the opposite end of the news spectrum, TW readers fell in love with the idea of a group of agents hitting the silver screen.
This made it into the top 5 most read stories for the whole year!
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/meet-the-hosties-on-new-travel-guides-show/
April
In our April our lives changed.
Ok, that’s a little over-dramatic, but they were hugely impacted by the release of The Handmaid’s Tale. We still get chills thinking about it.
In travel, readers pounced on this story about a couple’s “trip of a lifetime” which quickly turned into a “nightmare”, leaving them thousands of dollars out of pocket, and without the holiday they were so looking forward to.
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/sydney-couples-nightmare-us-holiday/
May
This was a powerful, but very strange month.
May saw the release of another female-lead smash hit, Wonder Woman. Gal Gadot broke boundaries, stereotypes and buildings, and killed some Nazis in the process. It was a really good time.
However, much more pressingly, the world of travel asked a difficult question, ‘Were bananas ever not gluten-free’? Yes, this fruity story was the highest-read of the month.
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/ana-responds-to-gluten-free-banana-incident/
June
This was a month of resilience on all accounts.
In early June, Ariana Grande hosted and headlined Benefit Concert for victims of her Manchester concert bombing, featuring performances from Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, and Katy Perry.
In travel, after a tumultuous few weeks for Qatar, a 70-year-old international aviation law was the airways saving grace after being blocked by neighbouring countries.
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/how-qatar-airways-can-stay-in-the-air/
July
We were preoccupied in July celebrating our birthday so missed the ‘big fight’.
Although, according to our sport-loving colleague, Jeff Horn defeating Manny Pacquiao in Brisbane, Australia was a “HUGE deal“. So there you go.
We weren’t the only ones celebrating it seems, as Flight Centre held its massive Global Gathering. No, we weren’t invited. Yes, we’re still bitter.
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/sneaky-social-posts-from-flight-centres-global-gathering/
August
If there’s one thing we remember from year 9 science class, it’s to wear glasses when looking at a solar eclipse.
But this doesn’t apply to presidents, right? Because 2017 was the weird year it was, the biggest story of August was Donald Trump’s lack of eyewear while watching the solar eclipse. *Facepalm*.
Not wasting anytime after the Global Gathering, FC set its eyes on expansion. This was one of the final scoops in a series of acquisitions, and boy did you guys lap this news up.
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/flight-centre-acquires-travel-partners-in-australia/
September
September was a month of power.
A story you maybe missed but is sure to make you feel the warm and fuzzies; this month marked the first time ever a woman graduated from the US Marine Corps’ Infantry Officer Course. It was awesome.
In another powerful act of strength, Skroo promised the face of Flight Centre would not change, nor would its booking practices and reliable approach to travel.
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/we-wont-consider-rebranding-fcs-skroo/
October
October, what a mark this month made in the history books.
It would be remiss of us not to vote the biggest event of this month as the ousting of Harvey Weinstein. A man who once loomed over Hollywood for a number of years was taken down by a group of extremely courageous victims and journos. We salute you.
On an entirely different note, readers were obsessed with this story about waving goodbye to paper in favour of robocops, as the Aussie immigration department’s paper-based system went through a major shake-up.
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/this-new-visa-applications-tech-will-change-the-game/
November
There was one thing that happened this month, and everything else paled in comparison.
It was the Women in Travel Awards! But we’ll get to that in a second. Another major world event was the engagement of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
Ok, it wasn’t exactly a world event, but it definitely got our attention.
But more importantly, it was the Women in Travel Awards!! There was laughter, tears, bubbly and a bit more laughter. Naomi Simson gave a spectacular keynote and Intrepid’s Usha Mary stole the show with her powerful speech.
What a night it was.
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/revealed-all-the-finalists-for-women-in-travel-awards/
December
And that’s the end.
The year is about to be over. But as December is only half-way through, there isn’t a whole lot to report on just yet.
So here’s a fun story, this month saw the first ever pizza party be held in space by astronauts of the International Space Station.
On a more serious note, this has been our most read story of this month so far:
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/north-korean-missile-flies-past-cathay-pacific-plane-mid-flight/
So everyone, thank you so much for being the best readers an online travel mag could dream of.
We may not have voted for our person of the year, but that’s because it’s YOU.
