Travel Weekly has relaunched under the umbrella brand TW Group.
Following research, Travel Weekly has revamped its design to ensure it remains the number one read for travel professionals.
Acting editor Martin Couzins said: “Our smaller size is one of many changes that will ensure Travel Weekly provides you with the news and essential information you need, when you need it. Further developments are planned to make sure the TW Group offers an unrivalled resource for travel professionals.”
The content has been transformed to reflect the diversity of the industry, while the new business and careers section provides advice on creating a successful business and developing skills.
The Departures section has been revamped to provide the latest destination news, reviews and selling tips, while there are more opinion pieces from industry experts.
Today also sees the launch of a daily news service on www.travelweekly.co.uk as well as the Travel Weekly blog. Travel Weekly and its sister brands gazetteers.com and Travolution form the TW Group.
So why the change?
Before explaining our changes, I want to mention the results of our exclusive industry survey. The results reveal how much change the industry is undergoing and it is this that underpins the developments at Travel Weekly.
This week’s state of the industry survey reminds us of the benefits and the downsides of working in travel. As our front cover demonstrates, this industry is made up of people who work hard and are proud to work in travel. But as the survey reveals, there are ongoing concerns about pay, the demise of the high street and the growth of online travel.
There are committed people working in the industry who are facing big challenges as the market evolves.
Which is why Travel Weekly has changed. Our own independent reader research revealed that the industry requires a magazine that is forward looking and positive and helps travel professionals understand how the market is changing.
We recognise the trade is now made up of more than just retail agents. So we will also be addressing the growing areas of homeworking, call centres and online, with the aim of representing the travel industry as a whole.
We will demonstrate this through our specialist news pages and our newly introduced Skills Zone – which will be a key source of business and careers advice.
Our research also showed today’s travel industry is incredibly diverse, and the growth of new media is so rapid that we need to provide more than just a weekly magazine.
We will be looking to grow our online services for agents, as well as supplementing our impressive events portfolio by working closely with our sister brands – gazetteers.com, the online information service used by almost two-thirds of UK agents; and Travolution, the only brand dedicated to the online market.
Together these brands provide a comprehensive way of serving a dynamic market, and so we have brought them together under a new umbrella brand – the TW Group.
Enjoy our new look. And please do get in touch with any feedback or ideas.
Martin Couzins, acting editor