Space Tourism by Techies!

This is weird. What's with these 3 space programs sponsored by 3 very rich tech guys?

1. Paul Allen's (Microsoft) SpaceshipOne - Link

2. Jeff Bezo's (Amazon) Blue Origin - Link

*Picture is a speculation of what it would look like. Sources said the principle of flight is similar to NASA's Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X) spacecraft.

3. John Carmack's (id Software) Armadillo Aerospace - Link

Is space tourism the next big thing? Will we be seeing a space boom soon pretty much like the tech boom or the biotech boom now?

From an unqualified aeronautical engineer's view (still - 6 more months to go!), space is too expensive, what we think would work are massive airships replacing sea-going freighters/cruise-ships! With control systems already worked out such that an airship can take off and land by itself, no airports needed, loiter time of months and speeds faster than a boat this seem to be a more logical step to be taken!