This is the 80th edition of Ticino Welcome.

The first issue came out 20 years ago. But the editorial team had been active for some time as the quarterly had already published 9 editions under the name of Lugano Airport.

Naturally there were very critical people when we decided to propose a new editorial product in an area already inflated with printed paper, but our project was different from the others and this is perhaps why it continues to exist, while other publications have had to despite closing.

In an era in which much of the press in Ticino was in fact busy highlighting problems, scandals, new political balances, etc., our original intent was to propose what was beautiful and good in our territory.

We have always believed in the potential of Italian Switzerland and we wanted this magazine to be a showcase capable of demonstrating that our Canton has many interesting and positive resources and initiatives. And history has proven us right since we started with only 64 pages, while today we fill 224.

We did it in the most free and independent way possible, also personally dealing with advertising sales, to be completely independent from the monopoly situation that in the past weighed on the publishing world.

For this Ticino Welcome it is a magazine that is still alive, growing and sustaining itself without aid or subsidies; we are free and we do not wave territorial or political flags. We limit ourselves to bringing to the readers' attention what is interesting to know, approve or criticize, regardless of who and where the proposal comes from.

We have witnessed the transformation of Ticino, its rapid growth in the field of digitalisation, new technologies and artificial intelligence and we too, in our small way, have chosen to combine the paper edition with an online version.

We will continue on our path by first of all thanking our readers, our advertisers and all our collaborators. These three realities are what decreed the success that brought us to the 80th. edition and we dedicate our past, present and future commitment to them.

Thank you for these first twenty years together. We are happy and proud to still have many ahead of us to share and experience with you!

Mario Mantegazza
Paula Chiericati
Eduardo Grottanelli de'Santi
Cristina Cattani-Viri
Manuela Lozza