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www.travelweekly-asia.com | 3 TALKING POINT Arnie Weissmann has been involved in virtually every aspect of travel jour- nalism, publishing and media for the past 25 years. His writing has won more than 40 national awards, he created the industry's first destination information service (Weissmann Reports), authored a best-selling textbook and has served as publisher of critical hotel and destination guides for the travel industry. Published by NORTHSTAR TRAVEL MEDIA SINGAPORE PTE LTD SINGAPORE 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652 • TEL: +65-6801-0450 FAX: +65-6801-0469 BEIJING Room 024, Building 8, Qijiayuan Diplomatic Compound, No.9 Jianguomenwai Street, Chaoyang District 100600, China • TEL: +8610-8532 3611 | FAX: +8610-8532 5293 SHANGHAI Room 2553, The Headquarters Building, No.168 Central XiZhang Road, Shanghai 200001, China • TEL: +8621-5179 8360 | FAX: +8621-5179 8360 Travel Weekly Asia is published on a monthly basis by Northstar Travel Media Singapore Pte Ltd. Located at 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652. All rights reserved. Volume 10 Issue 5 Please address all subscription mail to the above address, Fax +852 3020 5794, or email travelweeklyasia@asia-ad.net. 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Kemp CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Lisa Cohen PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER Matthew Yorke EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP PUBLISHER David Blansfield EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Arnie Weissmann SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF CONTENT DIRECTOR Lori Cioffi SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES Janine L. Bavoso SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTION Roberta Muller SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, IT INFRASTRUCTURE & OPERATIONS Rich Mastropietro VICE PRESIDENT, INFORMATION PRODUCTS GROUP Sheila Rice VICE PRESIDENT, DATABASE PRODUCTS Elizabeth Koesser TRAVEL WEEKLY EVENTS PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS, TRAVEL GROUP Alicia Evanko-Lewis Notre Dame And The Overview Effect For as long as I have been covering tourism, France has been the most visited country on Earth. In 2017, 86.9 million people travelled there. Which in part explains why the fire at Notre Dame felt like a personal tragedy to so many. Who could visit Notre Dame and not feel overwhelmed by its beauty? Layered over that is its spiritual importance, crucial to one faith yet transcendent and accessible to all. I first saw Notre Dame when I was 19. I had dropped out of college for a year, with the hope of working to save money and then travel in Africa. I had enlisted a friend to join me, but during those first six months, he acquired a girlfriend who wanted to come along -- but not to Africa. Europe was the compromise and I arrived there with a lingering sense of disappointment, feeling it wasn't foreign or adventurous enough. We stayed in a Left Bank guesthouse in Paris. My room was a third-storey garret in which I couldn't quite stand fully upright. But through its tiny window, I had a partial view of Notre Dame. I don't know how many times I visited the cathedral on that trip, but it played an important role in removing any residue of remorse I had about "settling" for Europe. I was excited by French food, art, culture and architecture. In part because of my experiences on that trip, I've always advocated travelling abroad during one's formative years. President Barack Obama once addressed the importance of young people travelling abroad: Young people who travel are not only exploring someplace new, they're trying to discover their place in the world. And they begin to see themselves in others whom they meet. Whether or not one has travelled to France or seen Notre Dame, if we have travelled abroad and learned the lessons of our travels well, we understand the profound sadness of the French and identify with those shedding tears for damage to this building. And, perhaps, we are also inspired to hear French President Emmanuel Macron speak of his ambition to repair the damage in five years, saying, "The fire at Notre Dame reminds us that our history doesn't end". The fierce political wars and polarisation that have come to define Macron's France are temporarily suspended. The cease- fire is expected to be short-lived, but given the intensity of those political feelings, anything that can press the pause button on that acrimony is revealing. It speaks to the importance of national symbols and our deep attachment to what they represent, something that rises far above aesthetic appeal. To take this aspect of travel to its current extreme, those who have gone farthest from their homes - astronauts - wax poetic about how foolish humankind's quarrels are, how fragile the Earth seems and the importance of coming together to put aside differences. There's a name for this: The Overview Effect. Watching news reports and speaking with friends who had visited Notre Dame, I was reminded of the Overview Effect but in reverse. Perhaps it could be called the Microcosm Effect. Millions who have visited just one building on an islet in a foreign land have become connected by a single thread. Seen at any age, it has enabled countless individuals to discover, in one important regard, their place in the world.

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