Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the TravelMole team.

This year has been a very exciting year for TravelMole. Our daily and weekly newswires are now reaching 27,000 subscribers around the world and a US weekly wire, launched earlier this year, is being sent to 70,000 US agents. 2003 also saw our first Travel & Tourism Web Awards, which took place in March at the British Travel Trade Fair. It was hailed a great success with over 250 valid entries and a number of satisfied sponsors. The cogs are already in motion for next year’s Awards and following much feedback from the inaugural event, we have introduced more award categories and moved the event to a new venue in London – the details of which will be released in the coming weeks. Next year will also see the introduction of TravelMole-branded industry debates, where industry representatives will debate the issues that have raised the most interest on TravelMole.com. The first of the two hour debates, scheduled for late February, will tackle the prickly issue of how agents will generate income in a commission-free environment. More details of the event will be released soon. TravelMole will also unveil a new sleek look in 2004. While we undergo the process of switching servers and back office providers we ask you to be patient and bear with us if you are experiencing any difficulties with the website.