You Lucky People!

A fascinating, incisive and witty exposée of the travel and tourism business


Tourism is now the world's largest industry accounting for 10% of the planet's GDP, 1 in 9 of all jobs and 13% of consumer spending worldwide. There are over 700 million international travelers each year, From pretty much a standing start 50 years ago, this is quite extraordinary growth. Package tourist numbers have grown from a few thousand in the UK 1950’s to half Europe’s population and millions in the USA , Now third world countries are joining the boom, it seems that the industry’s phenomenal growth is unstoppable.

And, of course, it’s not just about holidays. Foreign travel for the masses has affected what we eat and drink, what we wear, what we say and where we live - in a short space of time our holidays have affected our whole world vision, our opinions and our attitudes.

Who’d believe that this enormous and influential industry was invented, breathed into life, developed and fostered by a bunch of colourful, interesting and idiosyncratic misfits and amateurs!

In “You Lucky People” you’ll meet a cast of characters from cowboy coach operators to erudite guides to swanky hoteliers to bombastic airline and tour operators. In “You Lucky People” you’ll experience funny, sad and bizarre situations involving tourists the world over, you’ll laugh, cry and be amazed at the stories of what people get up to on holiday...and what those that provide their holidays do for them.

A real “Insider”, Valere Tjolle was practically born into the tourism business and started working on the Belgian Coast at the tender age of 14. He worked for nascent tour operators in the newly-created mass tourism business in the London of the 1960’s and after a few false starts started his own business in 1974. Valere’s creation, Land Travel, sold millions of cut-price holidays and was a significant force on the industry until its demise in 1992. A multi-millionaire by 40 and bankrupt at 47, since the recriminations of Land Travel’s closure, Valere has been advising sustainable tourism initiatives in the third world amongst other projects.

Read “You Lucky People and, above all you’ll understand the tourism industry for what it is... dreams, fantasies and sometimes nightmares delivered to dreamers by dreamers.

You lucky people!