WHAT AN EVENTFUL SEASON! In May we presented our Leisure Lifestyle Awards at the Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. The gathering drew executives in the travel industry, award winners and their entourages, GT subscribers and Globility Board members. It proved a beautiful evening in a lovely and festive location on the pool deck of the property. Liz Watts and Company provided authentic Polynesian dancing and music, an outstanding and fun way to close the ceremony honoring the best companies in cruising, island destinations and other sectors of this marketplace.

Next up was our Wines on the Wing International Airline Wine Competition, taking place June 8 at the City Winery in New York City. A panel of judges sampled airline wine through blind tastings under the watchful eye of Eunice Fried, Global Traveler’s wine consultant. Eunice and I have worked on judging business- and first-class wines for more than 25 years, making us the unquestionable experts in the field. Check out our August issue for this year’s Wines on the Wing results.

Our July issue is polybagged with the annual Global City Guidebook and distributed to all the delegates at the annual Global Business Travel Association convention, held this year in Boston July 16–19. The GBTA offers the opportunity for GT staff to meet and speak to top marketers shaping the future of business- and first-class travel. On the evening of July 18, Global Traveler and our sister publication Trazee Travel will host a reception to award The Trazees, voted on by the millennial readers of trazeetravel.com. We’ve booked The Lenox Hotel in Boston for the event; if you are in town that evening, you are more than welcome to attend the festivities.

By the time this issue is in your hands, the staff of Global Traveler will have traveled around the world several times visiting a long list of destinations including Zambia, South Africa and Thailand. I am sure your summer is equally busy — and I hope a little relaxing as well.

Enjoy the July issue and Global City Guidebook!