TORONTO — There were new hires, surprising departures, new resorts and a couple of shocking closures in 2019.

In other words, just a typical year in the never-a-dull-moment travel industry.

One of the biggest stories of the year, the collapse of Thomas Cook, dominated headlines in late September and into October, as Britain mounted its largest repatriation effort since World War II to bring some 600,000 travellers home, from vacation destinations around the world.

Thomas Cook had faced challenges for months – years, some would argue – and the company needed an extra 200 million pounds, on top of a 900 million pound rescue package already received, to pull through. When the money didn’t materialize, the government passed on a bailout and suddenly the 178-year old company was no more.

By mid-October, when the management by former Thomas Cook executives was under a parliamentary microscope, there came word of another closure, this time of the CTO’s marketing offices in London and New York (and, by extension, Canada).

And at that point the region was still grappling with fundraising and awareness efforts for Grand Bahama and the Abaco Islands after a devastating hit by Hurricane Dorian in the early days of September.

Meanwhile, throughout the year, we had new hotels, new cruise ships and plenty of appointment notices, for newcomers and industry veterans alike taking up new jobs in travel. Read on for more …

The Thomas Cook collapse: Too big to fail? No such thing as Thomas Cook made headlines in 2019

Resort news: Marriott, Beaches Turks & Caicos and other hotels in the news this year

Hurricane Dorian: Industry’s generosity shines through in wake of Hurricane Dorian

New hires, and departures: New jobs, new employers for plenty of industry veterans in 2019

Watch for more year-end coverage in Travelweek Daily on Dec. 30th and Dec. 31st as we continue to look back at everything making headlines in 2019, from the proposed Air Canada – Transat deal, to the best oddball stories of the year.