Most over-used word? Strangest term? Best invention of 2004? Yeoh Siew Hoon puts together her list of what made 2004 special for her.

Do you find that with each passing year, time just seems to fly faster?

I don't know about you but ever since I turned 29, I find that each year just seems to zoom past like Popeye on extra spinach.
And I don't think it's because I am having more fun either; I think it's just that fact that as one grows older, one's sense of time is more acute. Especially when you look into the mirror and find lines that should belong to crows, not your face.

One also tends to ramble on more with age. So before I find myself doing that, I want to end The SHY Report for this year by recalling The SHY List of 2004. I will try and restrict it to Travel, but forgive me if I stray occasionally.

After a certain age, one is allowed to ramble.

• Most over-used word: Win-win
  There is no such thing as win-win because in life, there is always a winner and a loser. Look at sports. This term is used by corporations to make everyone feel they are winners when the only winner may be the management. A more appropriate term would be I Win, You Lose (IWYL).



• Newest acronym: BOBO
  Tech geeks are the best at coming up with strange terms. I heard this at a travel distribution conference. BOBO means Browse Online, Book Offline. In marketers' lingo, it also means Bourgeois Bohemians. Or in other words, AH. (Ageing Hippies)



• Strangest term: Cross-channel surfing
  No, this is not what you do when you cross the channel between France and Britain. This refers to consumers who browse the Internet, call the airline, then call their travel agent, then call their friends and maybe they will book on their own through a fax machine.



• Most over-hyped event: The US Presidential Election
  A conspiracy whipped up by media to ensure their ratings when everyone knew who was going to be the winner. It was never as close as they made us believe …



• Most over-hyped event (in travel): LCCs
  They are popping up everywhere. Who will plop first, that's the question.



• Most reported story about an event that has not happened yet: The casino debate in Singapore
  For a story in which supposedly a decision has not even been made, more column inches have been given to the casino debate in Singapore than to the Presidential Election in Ukraine. Was he poisoned or not? Will Singapore develop a casino? The answer is (your guess).



• Most misunderstood five-letter word: …..
  No, it's not Osama (he is easy to understand) but China. Yes, it's big and it's full of potential but you'd better understand it first before you plunge in. Two events that took place as 2004 came to a close capture best the conundrum of China: Lenovo buying a stake in IBM and the collapse of CAO (China Aviation Oil). On the one hand, an emerging global player; on the other, you can go from hero to zero in no time.



• Most potentially world-changing fad: Atkins' Diet (low-carb craze)
  Imagine if Atkins' Diet took hold in Asia? Imagine the rice growers that would be put out of business? Imagine the social unrest? Perish the diet.



• Best invention of 2004: The Artificial Beauty Contest
  At last, a pageant for surgically-enhanced beauties. This completely eradicates that sleeplessness-inducing dilemma of "should girls who have had plastic surgery be allowed to compete in beauty contests"? I can now sleep better at nights.



• Best news of 2004:
  No SARS.



• Best event of 2004: LCCs
  Now we know how much airlines have been ripping us off over the years. Now when we hear that Cathay Pacific is charging S$300 for a return fare to Hong Kong, we say, that's expensive. Now, we are flying.



• The Next Big Thing: Dynamic Packaging
  Notice how the travel websites are always holding out for a better tomorrow. Remember how they said broadband would change our lives. And wireless? And mobile technology? Now the next big thing that awaits us is dynamic packaging which will allow travel websites like Expedia or Zuji to give customers tools to mix and match their requirements online and book complex itineraries.

Before that happens, I'd better get back to my Christmas packaging. All those gifts to wrap.

Oh yes, Most Commercial Event of 2004 (and every other year): Christmas and the New Year season.

Happy Holidays, everyone.

Note: In a battle against time, I am taking time off. The SHY Report will be back sometime in the new year.



The SHY Report
A regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry by one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, Yeoh Siew Hoon.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her company's mission is "Content, Communication, Connection". She is a writer, speaker, facilitator, trainer and events producer. She is also an author, having published "Around Asia In 1 Hr: Tales of Condoms, Chillies & Curries". Her motto is ‘free to do, and be'.
Contacts: Tel: 65-63424934, Mobile: 65-96801460

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