At last! We have said goodbye and good riddance to 2009 and what it brought us. Of course, we're not out of the woods - yet [not even Tiger Woods is out of the woods] - but things are looking up and the worst of the recession appears to be over. On the upside, despite some controversy, it appears that the SABC circus train is grinding to a welcome halt, but having said that, who knows... just when you think everything is on track, there's a derailment. If, however, the new, permanent board does what is expected of it, then that could be good news for the local production industry, which has probably been the biggest victim of what has happened at the corporation. So, let's look forward to a brighter, more prosperous 2010, with all that the FIFA World Cup can bring us. A word of caution, though - let's ensure that the world cup is only the start of a tourism boom, and we can do that by ensuring that we offer great service at a fair price. This is not the year to let greed run rampant. So what are the trends for 2010? As has become customary, we've invited a number of industry leaders to give us their thoughts for 2010, and we begin today with the first of our 2010 Trends pieces. We will be running them over the next couple of weeks, and we invite you to tell us whether you agree with the writers' predictions or not - simply comment underneath the articles. Happy New Year! Simone Puterman & Rod Baker
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