Culture + Design 25 Defining Moments in the Past 50 Years of Travel From the launch of the Concorde to the start of Airbnb. By Scott Bay Scott Bay Instagram Scott Bay is a magazine editor specializing in travel, architecture, and gear. He was previously an assistant editor at Travel + Leisure. His work has also appeared in Wired, Architectural Digest, Wallpaper, Robb Report, Saveur, Daily Beast, and more. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines Published on August 1, 2021 Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Photos: Getty Images As Travel + Leisure is celebrating its golden anniversary, we as editors spent months digging through the archives. We found nostalgic ads, incredible covers, iconic contributors (Slim Aarons, Authur Miller, Joan Didion, Julia Child, and many more), but also noticed how much the travel industry has changed since 1971. Read on to see the 25 events that have affected the way we travel forever. From left: The first Travel + Leisure magazine from 1971; A cover from 1947; 1976. Travel + Leisure 1971: Travel + Leisure was established 1971: Southwest airlines took to the skies NBC/NBCU Photo Bank 1971: Walt Disney World opened 1972: Rolling luggage patent awarded AFP via Getty Images 1973: Launch of Concorde 1974: The first hotel minibar was installed at the Hong Kong Hilton Getty Images 1974: Invention of the electronic hotel key 1974: GPS patent awarded Courtesy of Eastman Kodak Company 1975: The first digital camera was invented DEA/C.DANI/I.JESKE/De Agostini via Getty Images 1978: The first 12 UNESCO World Heritage Sites were announced 1988: Royal Caribbean International launched the first "megaship" Andreas von Lintel/ullstein bild via Getty Images 1989: Berlin Wall falls 1991: The closure of Pan Am Claus Felix/picture alliance via Getty Images 1992: Opening of the Rhine-Main-Danube canal — a catalyst for river cruising 1996: Launch of Expedia Steven Puetzer/Getty Images 1998: The Federal Aviation Administration banned smoking on all U.S. planes Joe Raedle/Getty Images 2001: 9/11 2003: Concorde's last flight 2005: Google Maps were established 2008: American Airlines became the first major airline to begin charging for luggage Justin Sullivan/Getty Images 2008: Airbnb hit the web 2008: Terminal 5 launched at Heathrow STR/AFP via Getty Images 2014: The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 2019: Longest non-stop flight: JFK to Singapore (18 hours and 40 minutes) JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images 2020: Coronavirus lockdowns Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit