06 NOV 2018: When my kids were small they used to ask me what it was like when I was young (back in those long-ago days of the 1960s and ‘70s). Not too different, I’d reply, though when pressed I did acknowledge a few minor variations, like the absence of computers/Internet/social media and cell phones; TVs that broadcast six channels, not 600, and in black and white (without remote controls); music delivered via a.m. radio and vinyl records; cars the size of smalls buses; and (gasp) no Starbucks. Holy Big Bird, Batman! things were pretty different I eventually conceded.

Some recent casual conversations with trade colleagues got me similarly reminiscing about how the travel industry has changed since the long-ago days when I came to it in the mid ‘80s. Not the technological stuff, which goes without saying, but more the nature of the beast.

One of my conversations, for example, was with the new dynamic duo of the German National Tourist Office in Canada, Julia Dywelski and Stephanie Lauber. I noted to Julia that she was now my fifth German director (all women it might be noted), going back to the iconic Ingrid Scherer-Mohr, who had presided over the GNTO in this country for more than 30 years if memory serves.

With a nod to Michael Lim (now 34 years at the Hong Kong Tourism Board, though not all as director in Canada), back then Ingrid – and other Canadian mainstays like Earl B. Smith (Cayman Islands), Wally Haupt (Austria), Bert Kameka (Jamaica), and Tom Elder (South Africa) – were as much the rule as the exception to the poor sorts who came and went every four or five years, seemingly unable to put down roots anywhere because of their profession.

It was also a time when there were a lot more tourist boards represented in Canada (as an aside, they were almost always called as such, not by marketing acronyms – Visit this, Discover that) – many with full-fledged offices or, at the very least, people based here, not New York.

My first call to a tourist board was Anne Virta at Finland. I recall Denmark, Greece, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Puerto Rico, even the Channel Islands for heaven’s sake. Bermuda was a biggie. Florida was here with Ellis Webber and year after year, like the onset of winter, Craig Roberts compared the price of a Big Mac in Canada to one in Florida (to illustrate that prices were cheaper there despite the dollar differential); Fort Lauderdale, St. Pete., the USTTA – offices that turned out to be training grounds for some of today’s top talent (respectively, Lynda Falcone now at Visit Britain, Kimberly Hartley at Myrtle Beach, Joanne Scalamogna at Louisiana, amongst others).

This is not to diminish the work or profiles of any of today’s directors or reps. Just different. And, perhaps, in some cases for the better, as one rep firm can bring many names to the market. For the demise of every Denmark, there’s an Orlando, Kissimmee or California that had no presence here before.

Yet, there’s little question that fewer and/or smaller tourist offices today mean fewer events, which were the lifeblood of the industry back then. For example, at Christmas, one could be out almost every night in December, sometimes at two or three parties. (I used to joke with other regulars on the circuit that I was spending more time with them than my wife). Which brings us back to Germany and Ingrid, the doyenne of the holiday season as hostess of the legendary German Christmas at Bistro 990 in Toronto each year in early December. When the famous goose with chestnut stuffing was served and Ingrid toasted in the season (followed inevitably by TV personality Jake de Boer rising to thank the tourist board on behalf of the guests, and legendary Travelweek editor Pat Dineen being required to admit how many consecutive years he had been in attendance), it was a sign that Christmas season for the trade, and its bevy of soirées, could begin.

Just being there was a thrill. A coveted invitation meant that one had arrived as a fully accepted member of the tightly knit trade community. One belonged.

Similarly, the Association of National Tourist Office Representatives’ (ANTOR) annual luncheon for members and the media at a yacht club on the Toronto islands was the summer’s hottest ticket – literally, as it always seemed to fall on the steamiest day of August, thereby torturing male guests, who were required to wear jackets and ties. (Did I mention in the first paragraph that men used to wear ties?). But such discomfort, and even the inconvenient ferry ride to the island, didn’t detract from what was the “it” event of the summer – an affair whose lofty status once famously inspired one writer who had fallen from grace and banned from the event to try to sneak in by crashing an early staff ferry (it didn’t work and she was still turned away).

Not to be outdone, tour operators of the time – there were over 15 prominent independent names (remember Canadian Holidays, Canada 3000 Holidays, Conquest, Regent, World of Vacations, Alba, to name a few?) – vied for event supremacy. September was crammed with product launches, to the point that bold operators began to (scandalously) nudge forward into August to get out ahead of the competition, which also began to change the long-standing pattern of lazy summers followed by frantic falls – at least until Christmas.

But no matter when the launches took place, it was Sunquest that stood out, thanks to its roast beef sandwiches (later Jamaican patties), which invariably caused a food table free for all (and sadly the stuffing of more than one sandwich into a purse or two), plus the unveiling of dirt cheap fam rates that had agents scrambling back to the office to book them because by the next day space would be gone. Conquest took a different tact – finding faded but recognized entertainers like The Temptations to add a little panache to their proceedings.

To be fair, tour ops like Sunwing, TravelBrands and Air Canada Vacations have revived the mega trade show in recent years (some even with noteworthy entertainment); also, to be entirely honest, attending only a few each year now rather than dozens is clearly preferable – especially when it comes to the exponential growth in traffic and cost of attending such events (another change). But throw in ACTA events and conferences, the Addison road show, many more golf tournaments than there are today, and there was often and literally no end in sight to the industry possibilities.

Perhaps that’s why the industry seemed like it was more fun back in the day. And a lot crazier. But then again, as an industry we’re collectively getting older, so forgive me if it wasn’t all as great as I recall and that it’s just the nostalgia kicking in.

But one thing I can say for sure: the more things change, the more they really don’t stay the same.