And that’s a wrap on 2019, folks!

As we say goodbye to the year that was and prepare to welcome in a new decade, we’re looking back on the biggest stories we published this year.

These are all the stories that our readers loved the most in 2019, for better or for worse. As an industry, we’ve seen some huge wins this past 12 months, but with the celebrations there has been much heartache as popular tour companies collapsed, natural disasters struck and planes crashed.

Its been a huge year for Travel Weekly too. We continued to celebrate the fantastic women who make our industry thrive with the Women in Travel Awards, we shed light on some important industry issues with our special sustainability-themed edition of Travel DAZE and we wrapped up the year by bringing the industry together and celebrating some great achievements at the Travel Awards.

But most importantly, we kept you informed on all the news and current affair that matter.

So please enjoy looking back on the top ten articles we published this year according to our readers and we hope you have a wonderful festive season and a magic New Year from everyone at the Travel Weekly team.

1. “Fair point”: Qantas claps back at Virgin over “huge news” billboard

Qantas responded to Virgin Australia’s cheeky “Huge news” billboard, standing by the hype it created over its loyalty program shakeup.

As reported by Travel Weekly, Virgin commissioned a very cheeky billboard outside Sydney Domestic Airport taking aim at Qantas’ frequent flyer overhaul, which included 1 million new reward seats.

The billboard, created by CHE Proximity for Velocity Frequent Flyer, reads “Huge news. Nothing’s changed.” followed by a reference to the program’s award-winning reward seat availability.

Read more here.

2. Plane passenger shot dead during flight hijacking attempt

A passenger on board a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight was shot dead while trying to hijack the plane.

The man attempted to enter the plane’s cockpit, and was waving a gun and threatening to blow up the aircraft, which was making its way from Dhaka to Dubai.

Read more here.

3. Industry reacts to shock collapse of Tempo Holidays and Bentours

The sudden exit of Tempo Holidays and Bentours from the local market prompted other travel companies to offer support for affected agents and clients.

The wholesalers issued a joint statement advising the businesses – owned by Cox & Kings in India – had been placed into voluntary administration.

Read more here.

4. Big MH370 news: Authorities investigate potential link between debris and diplomat assassination

There are a lot of theories being thrown around about missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, and now a new report has revealed that authorities are actively looking into a fresh one.

American lawyer, explorer and MH370 hunter Blaine Gibson (pictured above) has described the timing of is handing over of “promising” pieces of debris to local police and the assassination of a Malaysian diplomat eight days later as “highly suspicious”, in an interview with news.com.au.

Read more here.

5. Woman dies on international Qantas flight

A woman died while flying home to Melbourne from Los Angeles over the weekend with Qantas.

The 34-year-old Sunshine West woman was on board a 16-hour flight, which landed in Melbourne on Sunday morning, when she died, according to media reports.

Read more here.

6. American woman claims becoming youngest person to visit every country in the world

A 21-year-old American woman claimed to have become the youngest person ever to visit every country in the world, seeing all 196 sovereign nations.

On 31 May, daughter of travel agents Lexie Alford set foot in North Korea, her final stop on a lifelong dream to visit every country in the world.

Read more here.

7. Jetstar strikes set to disrupt tens of thousands of holidays over summer

Tens of thousands of holiday plans are set to be disrupted by strikes over the summer period as Jetstar workers prepare to walk off the job.

The Australian Federation of Pilots (AFAP) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) confirmed on Friday that pilots and ground crew members had voted in favour of partaking in protected industrial action including a work stoppage of up to 24 hours.

Read more here.

8. Speculation mounts on Cox & Kings’ future

It was widely speculated that the demise of Cox & Kings would be imminent following the sudden closure of its local operations.

The company, which was founded in 1758, once again defaulted on its payment obligation on for commercial papers on Friday, according to a BSE filing.

Read more here.

9. Crew member waving at couple who missed boat was misunderstanding, says RCL

A viral video emerged seemingly showing a Royal Caribbean (RCL) crew member waving a novelty hand at two passengers who missed their ship.

But according to RCL, there was more to this story.

Read more here.

10. ATTN: Women in Travel Awards 2019 finalists revealed!

Yes, the time finally arrived for Travel Weekly to announce the finalists for this year’s Women in Travel Awards!

Read more here.