or those of us who live and work in
the New York City area, it's been difficult to erase the images of
that morning two years ago this week when the world changed.
Our offices here at Travel Weekly are located across the river
from New York in Secaucus, N.J., but we're only minutes from
Manhattan, and from our building, we had a good view of the World
Trade Center.
To this day, I look out my window hoping that it was all a bad
dream and the majestic towers I once was able to see will reappear.
As this second anniversary passes, we pause to reflect on the
tragedy of that day, and we continue to think of the people who
lost friends and family.
For the travel industry, the events of 9/11 brought profound
changes. Two years later, we now know that some aspects of our
business were changed forever. At the top of the list of permanent
changes is the way we go about trying to keep travelers safe,
whether they are about to board airplanes or are at their
destinations. We have become accustomed to tightened security
everywhere, starting with airports but extending to office
buildings, hotels, cruise ports and shopping and entertainment
venues.
We accept these measures and hope that they will be effective at
preventing terrorist acts. At the same time, we embark on our
travels with more trepidation, and some of the unbounded joy of our
past travel experiences has been taken away.
The lingering effects of 9/11 also are felt in the way travelers
choose their leisure destinations and their modes of travel. Since
that day, more Americans have stayed close to home, using the
family car as their preferred means of transportation.
But we see signs of a restored faith in air travel and a renewed
interest in long-distance trips. Encouraging reports in recent
weeks point to a revival of international travel, including rising
interest in travel to Asia, which suffered both from terrorism
concerns and the SARS crisis. We hope this trend will gain momentum
and bring a resurgence of travel to international destinations.
Finally, there is the long-term change in the way we view travel
in the context of our relationships with those we love. Before
9/11, it was more likely that we would travel with members of our
immediate families. Since that day, more of us are reaching out to
our extended families and to our friends to join us in sharing
travel experiences.
We no longer take it for granted that everyone we care about
always will be there. We want to hold those we love closer and
experience life with each other. We no longer ask those we love,
"How was your trip?"
Now we ask, "Where should we go?"