Today’s Traveller is India’s top travel magazine for stories that shape the industry
For nearly three decades, Today’s Traveller has been the Indian magazine that does not chase trends so much as set the tone for them. It has chronicled the romance of discovery and the hard work that makes travel possible, while giving the tourism and hospitality sector a confident, credible voice at home and abroad. This is the story of a publication that grew with the industry, challenged it when necessary, and kept faith with readers even when the road was uncertain.
The spark that lit the press
In August 1997, a compact team launched a new title with a big conviction: travel journalism in India deserved patience, rigour and heart. The magazine that rolled off the press that month understood that journeys are never only about itineraries. They are about people, place, memory and meaning. Conceived and launched by Kamal Gill, Founder and Executive Editor, Today’s Traveller carried a simple but demanding brief. Tell the truth about destinations and communities. Honour craft and culture. Give space to local ritual and living tradition. Refuse surface impressions in favour of stories that endure.
From the first issue, the editorial line was clear. Immersive, reader-friendly travel features sat alongside reporting that traced policy, investment and leadership. Senior voices in government and business appeared in the same frame as guides, artisans and hoteliers. The aim was not to choose between inspiration and insight, but to hold them together so that readers could see the whole picture.
Recognition arrives early
That seriousness of purpose was recognised almost immediately. The debut issue won the PATA Gold Award for Editorial Excellence, a remarkable accolade for a first outing and a signal that a new standard had been set. At the 47th Pacific Asia Travel Association Conference in Manila in April 1998, the cover story “50 Years of Independence: Whither Tourism?” received the honour and announced the magazine on the global stage. The choice of subject was telling. Rather than play safe with scenic comfort, the story asked hard questions about India’s tourism vision and the reforms needed to realise it.
Kamal Gill remembered the moment with characteristic candour: “Everyone cautioned, ‘This is your first issue, why take the risk of upsetting people?’ But I believed truth was more important than comfort. We published the story, it won the PATA Gold Award, and our resolve only grew stronger.” The award validated the editorial instinct and emboldened the team to keep pushing into complex territory.
A chorus of global honours
The PATA recognition did not stop there. In 2001 the magazine was honoured again for “Serving Up India… The Right Way”, an exploration of the country’s culinary identity and the disciplines that elevate hospitality. By 2005, a third Gold Award for work on domestic tourism reinforced a conviction the magazine had championed long before it became policy orthodoxy. In 2006, “Niche Tourism – Small is Beautiful” examined specialised segments that would later shape growth strategies for destinations and brands. In 2008, a PATA Award for “Aviation and Climate Change” placed Indian travel journalism inside a vital global conversation about sustainability and responsibility.
Taken together, these honours were more than a trophy shelf. They mapped an editorial spine: food as culture rather than fad, domestic travel as engine rather than afterthought, specialised niches as opportunity rather than sideshow, and sustainability as obligation rather than slogan. The awards told the world that Indian travel media could be investigative, agenda-setting and internationally relevant, while remaining accessible to the everyday reader.
Windows to India, and far beyond
Across its pages, the magazine opened doors to new circuits, lesser-known regions and fresh ways of seeing celebrated places. Heritage stories traced architecture, crafts, sacred routes and culinary memory across generations. Eco-tourism features examined what responsible visitation looks like on the ground. Luxury found a natural home, not as excess but as a study of taste, service and a sense of arrival. Food writing became a signature thread, showing how a region’s thali can teach as much as its forts and museums. Coverage blended practical intelligence with narrative grace, placing community voices at the centre.
Readers met custodians of intangible culture, heard folk musicians speak about apprenticeship traditions, and followed artisans who keep handloom legacies alive. Features explored restoration projects and temple kitchens, seasonal rites and festival cities, while always returning to a central promise: celebrate India’s splendour and advocate for its future through respectful documentation and responsible travel.
Covers as keepsakes
If stories are the spirit of the magazine, the covers are its face and memory. Over twenty-eight years, each cover has been conceived as a small work of art. Some captured serene landscapes, others profiled the leaders who shape the industry, and many combined both impulses at once. For stakeholders across travel and hospitality, these covers became keepsakes, visual reminders of a sector in motion and a publication that values craft.
A steady hand in a difficult hour
When the Covid pandemic closed borders, emptied hotels and grounded aircraft, Today’s Traveller did what it had always done. It showed up for the industry. The magazine offered encouragement, visibility and solidarity to partners who were fighting for survival. One initiative stands out for its quiet impact: the team streamed essential schooling information for students at IHM Aurangabad so the next generation of hoteliers could keep learning. At a time when uncertainty narrowed horizons, the magazine widened them with empathy and resolve.
Milestones that mark a culture
Over the years the magazine built traditions that the community began to anticipate. Collector’s Issues became landmarks in their own right. “Champions of Change” (2022) marked twenty-five years of resilience with a cover launch and awards evening at the Taj Palace, New Delhi. A year later, “Transformation” (2023) explored how travel, hospitality and aviation were reshaping themselves in a post-pandemic world. These volumes did more than commemorate. They captured the mood of a changing industry and offered a thoughtful record of where it might head next.
Alongside these, the magazine continued to champion stories that keep heritage alive for contemporary readers: explorations of luxury heritage hotels that bring the past into present-day hospitality; essays on UNESCO-recognised food cultures; coverage of Maratha forts added to the World Heritage List; and richly illustrated journeys through India’s mural traditions. The goal has remained constant: celebrate the splendour of India’s past while advocating for its future.
The awards that became an institution
Ten years after inception, recognition matured into ritual. The Today’s Traveller Awards evolved into a prestigious evening that celebrates people who pioneer, brands that excel and ideas that move markets. What began modestly grew into one of India’s most respected platforms for hospitality and travel. The atmosphere balanced celebration with seriousness. Leaders, policymakers and cultural icons shared the stage. The presence of figures such as Amitabh Bachchan symbolised the magazine’s resonance across national life.
Over time, the awards evenings often coincided with the unveiling of Coffee Table Books that became fixtures on corporate shelves. Volumes such as Corporate Connect and Business Unusual were presented by ministers and icons, turning a night of honours into a broader conversation about excellence. The awards combined glamour with gravitas, and they also renewed a sense of community around shared standards.
A summit for serious conversation
As the platform matured, the awards gave rise to the Today’s Traveller Summit, a forum designed for depth and decision-making. The Summit convened voices at the highest level across hospitality, travel, tourism, aviation and the corporate world. Keynotes and special addresses have been delivered by Amitabh Kant (G20 Sherpa, Government of India), Puneet Chhatwal (Managing Director & CEO, IHCL), Dimitris Manikis (President EMEA, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts) and Justice Jasti Chelameswar (former Judge of the Supreme Court of India and former Chief Justice of the Kerala and Gauhati High Courts). Distinguished speakers have also included Frits van Paasschen and Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, who brought global and heritage perspectives to the dais.
Panel discussions have combined candour with practical value. “Leadership Makeover” brought together Anil Chadha (ITC Hotels), Mohit Nirula, Sudeep Jain (IHG), Nikhil Sharma (Radisson Hotel Group) and Zubin Saxena (Hilton), with Mandip Singh Lamba (HVS ANAROCK) moderating a conversation grounded in the real work of running brands through change. “Seizing Opportunities”, a defining exchange on investment, aligned the perspectives of Snehdeep Aggarwal (Bhartiya Group) and Sanjay Saraf (Saraf Group), under the guidance of Rajiv Kaul (CMS Info Systems), to examine how disciplined capital and stronger operating models can shape the next wave of growth.
Energy and edge also came through in “Trailblazers at the Table: Young Turks Envision the Future”, where Vikram Lalvani (Sterling Holiday Resorts), Vikram Cotah (GRT Hotels & Resorts), Atul Jain (BWH Hotels for India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) and Parveen Chander Kumar (IHCL) explored growth through the lenses of guest expectation, partnerships and people. The session benefited from the perspectives of Saurabh Rai and Sudhir Gupta, with reflections by Rattan Keswani and Anupam Dutta rounding the conversation.
Destinations, heritage and the culture of travel
The magazine’s destination coverage has always been guided by respect. New circuits are introduced with care for the carrying capacity. Lesser-known regions are presented with context about who lives there and how visitors can contribute rather than consume. Stories regularly return to the households and hamlets that give travel its texture. Coastal towns experimenting with eco-conscious stays, mountain communities shaping soft-adventure routes and festival cities that welcome pilgrims and tourists alike are given room to speak for themselves.
Heritage, meanwhile, is treated as a living thread. Articles have explored palaces and havelis that embody continuity rather than nostalgia. The magazine has shown how restoration sustains neighbourhood economies, how culinary memory travels through families, and how sacred routes continue to organise the rhythm of the year. It is an editorial stance that places legacy next to contemporary experience, so that readers can see how the two inform each other.
Aviation, hospitality and the larger ecosystem
Beyond consumer features, Today’s Traveller has maintained a steady brief on the wider travel economy. Aviation coverage has tracked regulatory change, innovation and environmental questions that cannot be postponed. Hospitality reporting has offered clear assessments of brand strategy, talent development and service design. The aim is always to be useful without being dry, and to be independent without being oppositional. When praise is due, it is specific. When critique is needed, it is precise. Readers return because the magazine respects their intelligence and their time.
The digital chapter: todaystraveller.net
Print remains the magazine’s craft, but digital has become a natural extension. todaystraveller.net expands the depth of the print issue, linking to longer reportage, expert commentary and evolving sections that range across sport, entertainment and travel. In the months ahead, new categories and formats will broaden access while keeping faith with the founding principles of responsibility and respect. The digital presence does not replace the deliberateness of print. It builds a bridge to readers who want immediacy without sacrificing substance.
Community, memory and momentum
The reach of Today’s Traveller is measured in readership, of course, but also in relationships. Well over 1.4 million discerning readers engage with a publication that treats them not as clicks but as companions in curiosity. Partners return because they recognise a consistent ethic. The magazine has mapped the rise of powerful brands, recorded the quiet passing of others and documented the cycles that every mature industry endures. Through milestones, awards and crises, it has kept the spirit of travel alive by keeping faith with its core idea: travel is a human story before it is anything else.
Anecdotes from early awards nights at The Ashok in New Delhi are part of that memory. So are the grand finales where visionaries, ministers and icons shared the stage with young managers on the cusp of their first big role. Each gathering, each issue and each cover sits within a longer line of effort. The habit is to look at what is changing and ask what should endure. That question has shaped editorial choices for twenty-eight years and continues to guide the work today.
The road ahead
Looking back, it is striking that a magazine conceived in the late nineties could grow into a legacy that still feels contemporary. Looking ahead, the founding spirit remains unchanged. Travel is treated as experience rather than spectacle, as a way to transform lives and connect cultures. The next chapter will ask fresh questions of technology, sustainability and taste, and it will do so with the same editorial clarity that won confidence in the first place.
Twenty-eight years on, the task is familiar. Notice what matters. Give it shape. Offer readers a vantage point they can trust. If the past is any guide, the chapters to come will be written with the same blend of curiosity and courage that defined the very first issue. The journey continues, and the destination is discovery itself.
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