Everything that we know about travel today, from driverless cars to navigating airports with the help of humanoid robots to big data anticipating our travel needs even before we know them, is a far cry from 1974, the year the first issue of TTG Asia was published.
Travel then was hardly the way we know it today. In 1974, Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport had just opened as the biggest airport in Europe; air travel was glamorous and people dressed up for their flights; while Bali, Bangkok or Shanghai did not register on travel radars yet.
The ensuing four decades have brought phenomenal changes to the world we live in – technologically, socially and economically. In these 45 years, TTG Asia has also remained at the centre of chronicling industry change, growing and developing into a leading travel trade publication.
As TTG Asia marks 45 years of publication, we’re commemorating this milestone with a special anniversary issue this month. We look at what make the travel and tourism industry great, and what will make it greater, putting the spotlight on how a new generation of leaders, companies and ideas will shape the future of the industry.
But the success of TTG Asia was not built by the company alone but by a community – i.e. you, the readers, whom this magazine was created for. Many industry members, past and present, old and new, for their part in shaping and contributing to the many vital and vibrant conversations over the past 45 years. Not to mention the advertisers who supported the magazine over the years, for without them there would not be a publication at all.
Indeed, it’s been a honour and pleasure to be part of the travel fraternity in Asia, and also be part of the this 45 years of influential and authoritative journalistic effort covering the regional travel trade.
We always felt that we have a role to fill in the Asian travel trade, by bringing the hottest topics in the industry to the fore and to share views that matter. When readers give feedback that the magazine helped them secure a business connection or informed them on a topic that aid them in running the business, it gives us a deep sense of satisfaction and pride.
No one can say for certain what the next 45 years will bring, but what we do know is that the pace of change isn’t slowing. Travel is at the cusp of an exciting, uncertain and fascinating moment in history.
With international tourist arrivals reaching 1.4 billion in 2018, the opportunities and challenges we face as travel business professionals and as citizens of the world have never been more important, more laden with responsibility, more brimming with potential.
We’re excited to be your guide and partner as we chart the future together.
