Stephen Harding wrote:

snip

Will many be able to afford it, assuming they *want* it to begin with?
Remember, the purpose of getting on an air machine has always been to
get somewhere, and typically, to *get somewhere quickly*. Not an
airship trait. (Airships could get right into a city destination,
eliminating the drive from the airport, which can be attractive).

But just as there are ocean cruises that are the purpose all to
themselves, I suppose there could be airship "cruises" as well. It
would be neat if it isn't prohibitively expensive.

Such cruises have been mooted for travel over nature preserves (Africa, Amazon, etc.). The ability
to drift with motors off at low speed is a big advantage of LTA. In a way, that was one of the first
tourist uses of Zeppelins. The Graf Zeppelin's round the world flight was essentially a high cost
cruise, and well before then day excursions over the valley of the Rhine or the Alps were being done
(pre-WW1, IIRR). In the Graf's case, they went over a lot of unspoiled country. Given modern
technology, I imagine there'd be a market -- there's certainly never a shortage of people who want
rides on the various advertising blimps in the area. Who wouldn't want to breakfast or dine in the
rooftop (sic) restaurant of a modern zepp, drifting along with the wind while the sun rises or sets?
Modern materials and design should more than cancel out the lift disadvantage of using helium. And
with the rise of eco-resorts in places like the canopy of the Brazilian rainforest, there'd be no
need to provide overnight accomodations on board, allowing a larger number of pax.

Guy