The Big Pineapple Is Back!

If you have been too busy to catch up on all things travel this week then never fear, because Travel Weekly's weekend read is here!

First and foremost it is important to note the biggest news of the week - The Big Pineapple has re-opened on the Sunshine Coast.

The biggest of Australia’s ‘Big Things’ – the Sunshine Coast’s Big Pineapple – was back after a hiatus.

Standing 16 metres high, the first stage of the Big Pineapple regeneration includes a new café, new children’s playground, new viewing platform and fully restored train.

As a Brit, I was initially confused at the Aussie obsession with 'big things' however editor Grant Jones assures me that, if England was large enough to have big roads, we too would have our own big things. Apparently, Stone Henge doesn't qualify!

Outside of the world of big fruit, there was a lot of activity in the world of travel this week. Here's some of our biggest news stories in case you missed them:

News

It was (another) pay day for TripADeal founders Norm Black and Richard Johnston with the duo selling the remaining stake of the business to Qantas .

The hunt for the next CEO of Virgin Australia is heating up. This week it was reported that just one internal candidate remains. The decision is expected in the next few weeks.

Accessibility is (rightly) finally getting the attention it deserves. Here's some expert views from the Tourism & Transport Forum 's tourism outlook event held at Crown Hotel Sydney this week.

The trend for slow travel shows no sign of slowing down (is this a contradiction?), Journey Beyond made a case for living life slowly, but deliciously with this vintage train buy.

Travel Weekly TV

If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Albatross Tours Shelley Poten in person, then we strongly recommend you say hi. Or you can simply watch her catch up with Travel Weekly GM Hoda Alzubaidi here.

The Faces of Travel

Want to know more about the people in travel? Well look no further, here are some of the industry's bigwigs we spoke to this week.

People Moves

There's been A LOT of movement in the industry this week. Here are just a handful of this weeks' moves.

We hope you enjoyed the FIRST EVER Weekend Read Newsletter. If you'd like to get in touch with the Travel Weekly editorial team contact [email protected] .

Or reach out to Grant Jones , Sofia Geraghty or Zach Havard .