The Top Word Of The Year: A Letter from the Editor

by Cheryl Rosen December 21, 2016

If you had to describe 2016 in one word, which would you use? Superb? Scary? Or hopefully, successful?

The experts at the Merriam Webster Dictionary have the final, well, word on the subject. This week they announced the Word of the Year for 2016, the top word looked up on their website over the past 12 months, was “surreal.”

Surreal is a new word, a sign of modern times, one might say. It means “marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream,” “unbelievable or fantastic”—and it didn’t appear in the Merriam Webster Dictionary until 1967.

In 2016, its use spiked after the terrorist attacks in Brussels and Nice, and the U.S. Presidential election in November. But of course not every dream is bad; “surreal” can have a positive connotation as well. We on the new editorial team at Travel Market Report would agree that 2016, our first full year here, has been surreal for us in the best possible way. We have been honored to be accepted by the travel-agency community and its suppliers; gratified by the encouragement we have received from our readers and advertisers; and buoyed by the support we have received for our mission of providing an independent voice for the travel-agency community.

Our mission for 2017 is to provide more tools and more information to help travel professionals succeed. We’re excited to kick that off in January with the TMR Cruise Report Card for Travel Agents, the first volume of a series of reports we will issue comparing supplier practices and how they affect the travel-agency channel.

But more on that in January. For now, let me just say thank you for sharing your experiences and expertise, whispering your ideas in our ears, friending us on Facebook and linking up with us on LinkedIn. Whether you have a concern to share or a tale to tell, we hope you will continue to reach out and let Travel Market Report speak on your behalf. And of course we hope you will support us by signing up for our newsletter, visiting our website, and mentioning us to suppliers.

From everything we are hearing, 2017 has the potential to be one positively surreal year for the travel industry—in the best sense of the word. And of course that is our holiday wish for every one of our readers and advertisers.

May your travelers voyage far, and take along their friends and families. May “irrational reality” cause your book of business to grow and prosper. May 2017 be a year filled with only good news, in a world at peace,

Cheryl