For a great many of the 16 million people who work in the $2.6 trillion U.S. tourism industry, getting an accurate assessment of travel demand is akin to finding the Holy Grail. For destination organizations and visitor bureaus at the national, state and local level, pinning down where people want to travel is the key to efficiently managing budgets and spending. Airlines gauge travel demand when deciding where to open new routes. Hotels and other tourism-related businesses use demand forecasting to right-size supply and determine how many employees to hire.



But predicting travel demand has become harder over the past decade, and the Covid-19 pandemic has upended traditional forecasting models that rely on recent historical data.



“I used to be able to close my eyes and tell you, ‘Here’s what we’re going do, and this is our audience,’” says Butch Spyridon, president of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.visitmusiccity.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nashville Convention &amp; Visitors Corporation</a>. “And I can’t do that anymore.”



Today, Spyridon and other U.S. tourism professionals are about to get an eyeful from Google. The technology company is launching&nbsp;<a href="https://travelinsights.withgoogle.com/intl/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Travel Insights with Google</a>, a brand new suite of free tools that leverage Google Search data to deliver insights into real-time travel demand.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F60eece71c0c0a16f7b59d7a9%2F0x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale" alt="Google travel trends tool"/><figcaption>Destination Insights lets travel marketers glean quick &#8220;focusing facts&#8221; that highlight major trends.&nbsp;GOOGLE</figcaption></figure>



The first tool,&nbsp;<a href="https://destinationinsights.withgoogle.com/intl/en_ALL/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Destination Insights</a>, gives travel businesses, governments and tourism boards a clear picture of where travel demand is coming from so they can plan accordingly. A second tool,&nbsp;<a href="https://hotelinsights.withgoogle.com/intl/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hotel Insights</a>, has been customized to help hoteliers analyze search trends so they can attract new guests based on where interest is coming from.&nbsp;



“It’s really difficult to find any anchor of data to forecast the future, and so we felt it was a good time right now to share some of our search data with the industry to help travel companies understand what users are looking for. And here’s the kind of queries they’re doing, and here’s the data and information they’re interested in,” says Gianni Marostica, Managing Director of Global Business Development for Google Travel.



Google started piloting the Travel Insights tools last December in the Asian Pacific region, where some destinations were already bouncing back early from Covid-19 and looking for directional data to guide where they should spend marketing dollars.



“The launch is very timely for Vietnam as we are looking at reviving tourism and restructuring destination markets post Covid-19,” says Ha Van Sieu, deputy chairman of&nbsp;<a href="https://vietnamtourism.gov.vn/english/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vietnam’s tourism organization</a>. “The tool is extremely useful for us to understand domestic, inbound and outbound travel demand based on real-time digital data, and to develop marketing strategies.”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F60eec53a5c09d5e76d59d7a9%2F0x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale" alt="travel trend data Google"/><figcaption>Which destinations are growing in popularity? Destination Insights pulls data from Google Search.&nbsp;GOOGLE</figcaption></figure>



During the initial six-month pilot in Asia, Google received valuable feedback from the governments and travel organizations that test-drove the new tool. “They provided some great insights as to some additional data or different cuts of data that we should have in the tool,” says Marostica. “And hopefully now, moving forward, as we roll this out in the U.S., we’ll get even more insights and maybe do different cuts of data based on what U.S.-based users would like to see.”



As chairman of the board for&nbsp;<a href="https://destinationsinternational.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Destinations International</a>, a trade group representing over 650 destination organizations, convention and visitors bureaus and tourism boards worldwide,&nbsp;Spyridon helped forge a partnership with Google.&nbsp;Now he can’t wait to use Travel Insights to glean insights into where travel demand is strongest for Nashville.



The Music City’s $10 billion tourism industry has traditionally relied on a heavy leisure drive market, says Spyridon, but in recent years it&#8217;s become almost impossible to get a handle on where demand is most concentrated. “The whole country has become our market in the last 10 years. Now it&#8217;s 50-50 fly-drive and just as strong West Coast and Northeast as it is Atlanta,” he says. “That&#8217;s good news for us. But it&#8217;s also hard to retarget that audience.”



Spyridon says his biggest obstacle has been a lack of good intel. “By the time we look at, the data is weeks, months and in some cases, a year old,” says Spyridon. “Putting our arms around current real-time data, we have never had that opportunity.”



The destination tool offers quick insights such as “fastest growing destination globally,” “country with the most inbound interest” and “top city in demand.” Marketers can dive deeper into each data set, and toggle the date range to see how that changes results.



Spyridon sees today’s launch is a game changer for travel marketers. “Google is the best in the business for gathering this data,” he says. “This is the best, most accurate and most real-time data that we will have access to. It will allow us to understand the search trends and meet the demand more effectively and be more current.”



“Responsibly reinvigorating the tourism sector will take ingenuity and effort across the industry,” writes Marostica on <a href="https://www.blog.google/products/ads-commerce/tools-partnerships-help-travel-recover-thrive/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google’s blog</a>. “As we make progress toward recovery, we’ll continue to seek to find new ways to support the global travel and tourism sector by sharing data and insights that can help the industry rebound.”



By Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, Forbes Staff

Man walking with suitcase at airport terminal

Google Just Unlocked The Mysteries Of Travel Demand—And The Tourism Industry Can’t Wait To Have At It

A new research paper from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimates that blocking out the middle seat on airplanes could cause the likelihood of passengers being infected with coronavirus to drop by nearly half, just as some airlines are starting to book flights to capacity again.



KEY FACTS



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>According to the MIT paper (which has not been peer reviewed) the chances of catching coronavirus from a nearby passenger on a full airplane when all coach seats are filled is about <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.02.20143826v2.full.pdf" target="_blank">1 in 4,300</a>.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>However, those odds drop to 1 in 7,700 when all the middle seats on board are left empty, the paper states.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Taking into account a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.02.20143826v2.full.pdf" target="_blank">1% mortality rate</a> according to the statistical model, the likelihood of dying from a coronavirus case contracted on a plane is far more likely than dying in a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.02.20143826v2.full.pdf" target="_blank">plane crash</a>, which has odds of about 1 in 34 million, the paper stated. </li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>In “Covid-19 Risk Among Airline Passengers: Should the Middle Seat Stay Empty?” the author of the study, Arnold Barnett, wrote that his analysis aims to be “<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.02.20143826v2.full.pdf" target="_blank">a rough approximation</a>” of the risks involved in flying during the coronavirus pandemic.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>“The airlines are setting their own policies but the airlines and the public should know about the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/filling-middle-seats-nearly-doubles-airline-passenger-risk-of-catching-covid-19-says-mit-researcher/" target="_blank">risk implications</a> of their choices,&#8221; Barnett told ZDNet this week.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The paper comes just as more flight carriers, like <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/06/27/american-airlines-ditches-social-distancing-will-book-planes-at-full-capacity/#654a11ea3b9a">American Airlines</a>, begin booking flights to full capacity despite surges of the virus across the country. </li></ul>



KEY BACKGROUND



The coronavirus pandemic has been disastrous for the travel industry, and has especially hurt airlines. Major American carriers including American, Delta and United have asked employees to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/07/08/united-airlines-warns-that-it-could-layoff-36000-employees/#1f5870d93afb">take buyouts</a> and early retirement, Forbes reported, in a bid to cut costs as the pandemic causes them to bleed cash. United Airlines warned this week that it could be forced to furlough <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/07/08/united-airlines-warns-that-it-could-layoff-36000-employees/#6a9425d73afb">36,000 jobs</a>, or nearly half of its American workers, starting in October if travel doesn’t pick up. In April, the airline estimated that in the first quarter it lost <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremybogaisky/2020/04/20/united-airlines-first-quarter-loss/#36db1a0196ef">$2.1 billion</a> pre-tax, Forbes reported, and was losing <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremybogaisky/2020/04/20/united-airlines-first-quarter-loss/#36db1a0196ef">$100 million</a> a day in the last half of March. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in May he expects a major airline to go <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/05/12/boeing-ceo-warns-a-major-airline-will-most-likely-go-out-of-business-this-year-because-of-coronavirus/#660d73342b4b">out of business</a> in 2020 as a result of pandemic pressure.



NEWS PEG



American Airlines announced two weeks ago it would begin <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/06/27/american-airlines-ditches-social-distancing-will-book-planes-at-full-capacity/#654a11ea3b9a">booking middle seats</a> again starting in July, although the carrier will allow passengers to switch from a full flight without any extra cost, Forbes reported. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/06/27/american-airlines-ditches-social-distancing-will-book-planes-at-full-capacity/#370f46303b9a">United</a> is also selling tickets for middle seats. American Airlines took flak earlier this month when Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) tweeted a picture of his <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/SenJeffMerkley/status/1278782271986831360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1279139143117832192%7Ctwgr%5E&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wusa9.com%2Farticle%2Fnews%2Fverify%2Fverify-airplane-safety-coronavirus-major-airlines-policies%2F65-5872a38d-42fe-4940-be04-eb67de1fe0c3" target="_blank">crowded flight</a>. 



<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">.<a href="https://twitter.com/AmericanAir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AmericanAir</a>: how many Americans will die bc you fill middle seats, w/ your customers shoulder to shoulder, hour after hour. This is incredibly irresponsible. People eat &amp; drink on planes &amp; must take off masks to do so. No way you aren’t facilitating spread of COVID infections. <a href="https://t.co/PWG5macqgC">pic.twitter.com/PWG5macqgC</a>&mdash; Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJeffMerkley/status/1278782271986831360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2020</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



WHAT TO WATCH



If airlines continue to extend their policy of keeping middle seats blocked off or if they’ll be forced to book to capacity to turn a profit. <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/SouthwestAir/status/1280932162854948866" target="_blank">Southwest</a> and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/Delta/status/1278352078784671744" target="_blank">Delta</a> have both committed to keeping their middle <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/Delta/status/1278352078784671744" target="_blank">seats</a> blocked off until at least the end of September, while <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/06/26/airlines-tried-social-distancing-board-many-that-experiment-is-ending/" target="_blank">JetBlue</a> will do the same through July, according to the Washington Post.



&#8211; <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/">Carlie Porterfield</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/business">Business</a>

gettyimages-1224293933-594×594

Leaving Airplane Middle Seats Empty Could Cut Coronavirus Risk Almost In Half, A Study Says

Topline: As the number of coronavirus cases surpasses <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/coronavirus-maps.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Article&amp;state=default&amp;module=styln-coronavirus&amp;variant=show&amp;region=TOP_BANNER&amp;context=storyline_menu" target="_blank">110,000 people</a> worldwide, with more reported daily, the federal government has issued a number of travel advisories⁠—here’s where to avoid, and where it’s probably okay to visit: 



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Centers for Disease Control</a>&nbsp;has three levels of travel advisories, with Level 1 being the lowest caution and Level 3 being the highest (with China, Iran, Italy and South Korea on that Level 3 list).</li><li>The CDC has designated Japan with a Level 2 advisory due to ongoing community transmission of the disease, which means older people and people with chronic underlying medical conditions should reconsider traveling there, while Hong Kong is a Level 1 advisory, based on its risk of limited community transmission.</li><li>The&nbsp;<a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">State Department</a>&nbsp;also has a four tier travel advisory system, with Level 4 being the most severe warning, and says travel to Level 3 countries Azerbaijan, Mongolia and Turkmenistan should be reconsidered due to the outbreak; the department released a&nbsp;<a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/COVID-19-Country-Specific-Information.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">complete country-by-country advisory database</a>&nbsp;on Monday specifically for coronavirus.</li><li>“I think you can go anywhere [internationally] if you don’t mind being delayed by 14 days,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious diseases scholar at Johns Hopkins University, adding, “it’s not in terms of ‘it’s safe’ or ‘not safe,’ but logistically feasible to get home in time” if a traveler is quarantined.</li><li>Adalja said that domestic travel within the U.S. is safe for most people, (and the CDC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hasn’t recommended</a>&nbsp;travel restrictions within the U.S.) but “if you’re older or have underlying medical conditions, reconsider nonessential travel because we are likely seeing more community spread.”</li><li>“We have to dispel the notion that coronavirus is a travel-related illness,” said Adalja, because the virus has likely been spreading since November, and health officials are catching up to containment and treatment.</li></ul>



Crucial quote: &#8220;We already have community transmission within the United States,&#8221; Shira Doran, an infectious disease specialist at Tufts University, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/06/812650868/coronavirus-travel-tips-to-fly-or-not-to-fly-what-happens-if-you-cancel" target="_blank">told NPR</a> Friday. &#8220;So, at some point, it&#8217;s not going to be any riskier to go to another country than it is to stay right here.&#8221;



Key background:&nbsp;The coronavirus outbreak has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/02/28/updated-here-are-the-destinations-affected-by-coronavirus-flight-cancellations-and-travel-bans/#4b33e377cd68">thrown a wrench</a>&nbsp;into travel worldwide, with numerous airlines cancelling flights, cruise ships quarantining passengers and even domestic trains, such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/7/21169393/amtrak-canceling-nonstop-acela-new-york-washington-dc-coronavirus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amtrak’s Acela</a>, canceling service between major cities. Travelers around the world have been quarantined as countries work to contain the disease. Multiple&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/03/03/811728989/coronavirus-cancellations-and-travel-bans-google-is-latest" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">businesses</a>&nbsp;and corporations have suspended travel for employees. Major conferences and events, like the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2020/03/06/sxsw-cancelled-amidst-coronavirus-fears/">South By Southwest</a>&nbsp;music and culture festival, have also been called off. The CDC has recommended travelers avoid all nonessential travel to Level 3 countries⁠: China, Iran, Italy and South Korea. (Entry by Chinese and Iranian nationals has also been suspended due to the outbreak). And the State Department has advised against all traveling by cruise ships.



Tangent: 15 countries. <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/" target="_blank">That’s how many</a> are designated “Level 4, Do Not Travel” by the State Department. But only one country⁠—China, where the coronavirus is believed to have originated⁠—was designated Level 4 due to the outbreak.



&#8211; <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/">Lisette Voytko</a>, Forbes Staff, Business

gettyimages-1151553588-170667a

Here’s The Worst Places To Travel Because Of The COVID-19 Coronavirus Outbreak

In the coastal country’s capital Accra, the South African musician savored street food and a different kind of music, in tandem with the sound of the waves.



For Unathi Nkayi, life is all about investing in experiences, be it in her music or her travel sojourns.



The popular South African musician and Idols South Africa judge has lived in and visited several countries around the world, but one of her most abiding memories of a holiday was last year in the coastal African country Ghana.



“I felt the beauty of the continent in Ghana and her pride and respect and her anointing,” Nkayi tells FORBES AFRICA.



In December, she accompanied a friend who was traveling to the West African country, and spent six days in the capital Accra, well into the New Year.



They stayed at the Mövenpick, situated on a busy street down the road from the military base, the presidential house and in close proximity to the beach.



“I’m a beach person so wherever I travel for leisure, I have to be on the coast,” says Nkayi.



On New Year’s Day, she was at one of Ghana’s most popular beaches, Labadi Beach, and it was the most beautiful she had seen – and what attracted her to it more, were the Afro beats emanating from it as she arrived at the parking lot.



The air was spiked with a medley of music, from Burna Boy to Tiwa Savage to D’banj and Wizkid.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46761" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-600x450.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



As she sauntered closer to the white sandy shores, the music got louder and it became apparent it came from the restaurants serving food to serpentine queues of visitors on the beach.



With music in the air, and the clear blue waters of the ocean under her feet, Nkayi experienced a serene calm as she closed her eyes and shut out her city life in far-away Johannesburg.



The two-hour professional spa massage she received on the beach, with the sound of the waves in her ear, made her de-stress totally. After that, it was time for some soul food on the busy streets of Accra.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46759" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-100x100.jpg 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-600x600.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Busy Nima area.</figcaption></figure>



“You park on the streets and your table and chairs are on the street. And then, they bring you a tank with live fish and you choose,” she says of the unique experience savoring local delicacies.



She relished her fish with jollof rice and some plantain, the local staples that took her on a culinary journey.



“It was very multicultural in that sense, and experiencing the vastness of Ghana which is absolutely beautiful.”



Apart from the food, the culture and the scenery, Nkayi greatly appreciated the people.



“They are the most gracious people I have met,” she says of their welcoming nature.



Nkayi grew up in Namibia, England and Wales, studied in the Netherlands and Spain, has traveled to France and Belgium, but says nothing compares to visiting countries like Ghana.



“There’s a grace and respect I feel that I don’t feel in the rest of the world,” she says. “It is almost royal.”



She was especially impressed with the way Ghanaian men treat women.



“They adore women… there’s a deliberate acknowledgement of the feminine presence of power,” she says.



Hailing from a country where the femicide rate is one of the highest in the world, she was struck by these genteel attributes.



“For example, there are certain things I do not wear in South Africa. There are certain parts of my closet I only go to when I go on holiday [to places like Ghana], and that is because I know that the West African man will not whistle at me, and he will not call me ma bhebheza [meaning ‘my baby’ as a form of cat-calling].



“There’s an adoration West Africa has for women that I don’t get to experience in any other part of the world,” she says, adding this is something all countries could learn from.



More on Ghanaian hospitality: on one particular morning in Accra, she and her friend visited a local couple who cooked them a three-course meal for brunch.



Alcohol of every kind was offered, including some of the finest from Nkayi’s home country, South Africa.



But what she loved most was the sauce that accompanied her meal.



“There’s a Ghanaian fish sauce I love called shito,” she says.



It’s a hot pepper soup that consists of fish or vegetable oil, ginger, dried fish, prawns, crustaceans, tomatoes, garlic, peppers and spices.



The couple gifted her with three jars of shito that they made, which she carried back home, and thrust into her freezer, so she could enjoy them for longer.



And what can South Africa learn from Ghana?



“Everything!” says Nkayi.



“We need to be more open, and we need to be more hospitable. We need to look at our own continent the same way we marvel at traveling to America or Europe… Africa is beautiful and I marvel at how complex she is.”



Nkayi hopes to visit Ghana again, but not just yet.



Her next trip is to another pristine beach, at Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, for the carnival in February 2020.

H&M reveals collaboration with African brand Mantsho

#ExecutiveTravel: Unathi Nkayi’s Ghana

It’s not uncommon for flight stewardesses to attract the occasional – and often derisive – comment that they are nothing but ‘trolley dollies’ or ‘waitresses in the sky’. Having been an airhostess for over three decades, Neil Haasbroek should know.
But for Haasbroek and many others of her generation, these remarks didn’t matter. What did was that it was a profession they adored, and one that came with its own sense of pride, dignity and discipline.
Described as “the angel in the blue dress” during a tea party in her honor in Johannesburg, South Africa, Haasbroek, now 80 and settled in the city, is one of the longest-serving airhostesses of one of Africa’s oldest airlines – South African Airways (SAA).
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6405" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/1970-Irma-Broodryk-Co-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />
She began her career in 1957, when SAA was known as SAL (Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens) and the country was ruled by the apartheid government. The airline wore a different look then: the tail of its body was orange and it sported a leaping navy blue springbok.
She had joined at a time when being an airhostess was seen as a short-term career option for women before entering their next phase of life – marriage.
But not for Haasbroek. She broke stereotypes and ended up working with SAA for 36 years.
“I had never thought that I would become an airhostess because I thought that I was too short at the time, and not as beautiful as I imagined an airhostess should be,” says Haasbroek.
It was only after she saw a newspaper advertisement that she thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Little did she know then she would spend almost half her life in the skies.
Haasbroek talks of how she moved up the ranks after a two-and-half year stint as a domestic flight attendant to later serve on international routes.
“I remember for the first six months, we only traveled to Australia, those were long flights – 23 hours,” she laughs.
“Thereafter, the world was my oyster. I spent 11 years traveling overseas.”
She then became a check-flight hostess, tasked with inspecting the conduct of the crew. Her most favorite role was as instructor and chief airhostess of the airline.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6406" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Neil-Haasbroek-News-clip-3-194x300.jpg" alt="" width="194" height="300" />
“It was very exciting to get a group of girls that I had to train and be like a mother to them, and solve their problems,” says Haasbroek. Part of her job was to make sure the crew looked the part.
“Before every flight, I had to check their hair, make-up, nails and weight. They had to be well-groomed at all times. It was a wonderful career. I loved interacting with people, every flight for me was special and I could leave all my worries at home.” While many of her colleagues got married and had children, Haasbroek was married to her work, and every year, as new aspirants joined the airline, she treated them like her own children.
“I always say one of my greatest regrets was not having children of my own, but the hostesses became my daughters,” she says.

Tag: Traveling

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