It’s never been more important to remind ourselves of the vital role our industry plays, says Travel Weekly features and supplement editor Katie McGonagle
We live and breathe travel here at Travel Weekly. Like you, it’s what inspires us every day, it’s our raison d’être as a company and as a voice for the industry we serve.
Yet in a world where travel is on pause, we thought carefully about whether it was right to keep bringing you stories from the places and people that are currently off limits to UK travellers.
However, I firmly believe we should continue to champion these much-loved destinations as enthusiastically as ever, and I’d like to share the reasons why.
First and foremost, we’re here to support the travel trade at this time of unprecedented turmoil. As agents work round-the-clock to rebook clients, it’s only right that we continue to offer the best ideas for where to send them, even if that’s not for a while.
So we’ll continue to bring you first-hand features, keep reporting from recent fam trips taken in happier times, and keep talking to key suppliers to bring you the benefit of their expertise.
Second, we stand shoulder to shoulder with all those employed in travel and tourism around the world. My heart goes out to the tour guides, taxi drivers, wildlife trackers and hotel housekeepers who stand to lose their livelihoods.
We must do everything we can to ensure that when this crisis passes, those individuals who enrich our travel experiences are still there.
Travel can be a force for good, and it’s never been more important to remind ourselves of the vital role it plays. We know you love travel as much as we do, so we will keep offering you all the inspiration we can, keep dreaming about the destinations we’re longing to get back to and keep giving reasons to remember why we all got into travel in the first place.