At Fire on the Hill we empower organisations to develop and communicate their story. Together, we can help to shape a more advanced, more sustainable, more open, more truthful, and more equal world.

As part of this journey, As Per My Last Email… takes a look at what our teams, clients and industry have been working on over the past few weeks.

This month we look ahead with Travel Trends 2026 from our partner Amadeus, celebrate at the Travolution Awards and take a look at the breaking news from the AI and communications sectors.

Find out more below - and a very merry Christmas from all of us at Fire on the Hill. 🎄✨

Amadeus Travel Trends 2026 goes live

First up for December, it was great to see Travel Trends 2026 from our partner at Amadeus go live this week – drawing on research from Globetrender and Shape Insight.

What can we look forward to from the year ahead? Expect a focus on:

🐶 The Pawprint Economy
📱 Travel Mixology
✈️ Point-to-Point Precision
🍭 Pop Culting
🛌 Pick 'n' Stays
🤖 Innovation Tourism

As Daniel Batchelor, Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Marketing and Communications, Amadeus, says: “From new pet travel technology to AI-powered trip planning, long‑range narrow‑body jets, pop culture‑inspired pilgrimages, and hyper‑personalized hotel stays, a wave of innovation is reshaping travel.”

More on the Amadeus website, here.

Fire on the Hill celebrates at Travolution Awards 2025

The Fire on the Hill team had a great evening at the Travolution.com Awards earlier this month. Thanks to Kate Harden-England and the team for bringing the digital travel community together and hosting such an excellent event.

We had a great sense of satisfaction as a FOTH drafted entry for Outpayce from Amadeus triumphed in the B2B payments category. Outpayce’s new product improves how travel agencies pay-out to hotels with virtual cards, overcoming longstanding challenges in the industry.

Great to see Vasken Tokatlian collect the prize from Kevin White of Mastercard.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Fire on the Hill AI Digest

The Fire on the Hill AI Digest from Head of Content, Chris O’Toole, seeks to capture where AI stands at the end of 2025.

The question of whether we’re in an AI bubble is still open, with some market watchers saying valuations feel overheated and others arguing there’s room to run, while the conversation around the limits of AI creativity took an interesting turn with a major indie game award being rescinded after generative AI was used in development.

Emerging concerns are also shifting to the potential harms of autonomous AI agents. A recent report from the Australian competition authority points to risks around agent behaviour, liability and data practices, reminding us that AI governance and ethics remain core strategic priorities.

More here.

Fire on the Hill Reputation Digest

Fire on the Hill Senior Account Executive, Rosie Ward, shares the final Reputation Digest for the year, reminding us reputation risk can surface anywhere, at any time.

From a senior Campbell’s executive caught out by a leaked recording and a growing clash between Ben & Jerry’s founders and its parent company over values and control, to renewed scrutiny of Nigel Farage over past remarks, the common thread is how quickly legacy, leadership and culture can collide in public view.

Worth a read if you care about trust, leadership and long-term brand value.

More here.

Merry Christmas!

Finally, wishing everyone a very happy Christmas and a relaxing festive break.

Thank you to colleagues, clients and partners for the collaboration, conversations and shared successes throughout the year just gone. It’s been a pleasure working together.

Here’s to some well-earned rest, time with loved ones and a positive start to 2026. 🎄✨