Happy 2009! Everyone here at Global Traveler is off and running and I’m personally looking forward to the New Year. I’m especially excited to celebrate GT‘s five year anniversary this year. Please keep an eye out for our special February issue commemorating this momentous occasion.

Next week finds us all in Los Angeles at the gorgeous Hotel Bel-Air for Global Traveler‘s GT Tested Reader Survey Awards celebration. We will honor the best in travel in 2008 and all enjoy a spectacular evening. I’m looking forward to lots of exciting business travel in the New Year. Look out for my blogs, which will be coming to you from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Toronto, Montreal and spots across Asia.

I’ll be sure to keep you posted from my hometown of NYC as well. I love discussing all the exciting events this city has to offer. If you know of any exciting events in New York, or your hometown, let us know! Our web traffic on the GT Web site continues to grow as well – what better way to reach all the frequent business travelers out there.

-Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher