Every summer I say I’m going to take it easy, not travel as much and take care of a few things in the office. Well, two months later, I feel like I circled the globe twice—Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Florida, Hawaii and, as always, Las Vegas.
The picture here, from my Hong Kong stopover, captures the most magnificent skyline in the world. The Chinese are very focused and regimented, and I learned a lot on my trip. First of all, from a tourism perspective, in five years, they will be the most traveled people in the world. As the only travel-trade media company with a global footprint of products, this is a great opportunity for us to educate you on the fastest-growing economy on the planet. You can be sure we’ll be on top of the latest developments there.
As we move into fall, we have a busy lineup of interesting issues, events and booking rewards programs. Currently, our American Express booking incentive program is well underway, with more than $20 million in booked travel. We are offering over $200,000 in AmEx gift cards as incentive for you to book travel with the card. For more information, visit www.winwithamex.com.
This fall, we are holding a meetings and incentive event for the Caribbean region. This hosted buyer program will take place in Jamaica from October 7-10. Then we are off to the inaugural Hawaii Travel Exchange, October 25-27. To be held on Oahu, this event will host travel agents who book high-volume business to Hawaii. If you qualify, Travel Agent magazine will step in to sponsor your trip. Visit www.hawaiitravelexchange.com to see if you make the cut.
Finally, we end the year with the largest gathering of travel agents in the world, Luxury Travel Expo, December 7-9.
On the magazine front, this current issue will no doubt be an eye-opener with its Top 25 Travel Agents. This will be followed by our annual look at the 30under30, and then the “Pink Issue,” which will tackle the subject of cancer in the workplace and how to deal with it. We will also be raising money to help people cope with this terrible disease.
There’s lots going on, and I hope to see you at one of our many events…after all, summer’s over—it’s back to work.