WTM – PREVIEW & DAILY SHOW EDITIONS 2004

WORLD TRAVEL MARKET

PREVIEW & DAILY SHOW EDITIONS 2004

Please circulate this information to all your colleagues to avoid unnecessary telephone calls to Travel Weekly staff.

To receive an interview request form, or if you have any queries regarding the WTM daily editions, NOT THE PREVIEW FEATURE please contact editorial assistant Beth Craven on telephone number 020-8652 8230 or email beth.craven@rbi.co.uk Any queries regarding WTM Preview, please contact features staff.

The WTM Preview is a comprehensive round-up of what show visitors can expect to see at ExCeL. It is compiled by the features team at Travel Weekly. A brief will be sent out to writers by September 24 so you don’t have long to get your ideas/information in.

INFORMATION REQUIRED We will be looking for exclusive leads on new products, brochure launches, market trends, pricing and marketing campaigns. Writers do not want recycled stories of past events or developments that have already happened, ie, a brochure launch or hotel opening which occurred in September.

DEADLINES Information/press releases to be supplied directly to writers no later than October 8 Picture deadline (NB colour transparencies/hi-res digital files or good quality prints only) by Friday October 10. Please send pictures to features editor Teresa Machan marking them clearly as pictures for inclusion in WTM Preview. Teresa can be reached on 020-8652 8241.

CONTACTS All preview feature information should be addressed to the Features Desk.

This year, Features editor Teresa Machan  will co-ordinate releases and ensure they are passed on to relevant writer.

• Features editor – Teresa Machan Tel: 020-8652 8241; e-mail: teresa.machan@rbi.co.uk  fax: 020-8652 3956
• Deputy features editor – Matthew Hampton Tel: 020-8652 8258; e-mail: matthew.hampton@rbi.co.uk
• Senior features reporter – Ross Bentley Tel: 020-8652 4242; e-mail: ross.bentley@rbi.co.uk

GENERAL GUIDELINES

• Travel Weekly produces four daily papers at WTM – one for each day of the show. The first daily paper is put together in the three weeks before the event, with reporters carrying out interviews over the telephone. The final production deadline for the first issue is Wednesday November 3. However, we advise you to get requests in as soon as possible as spaces are snapped up very quickly. Obviously, interviews conducted in the week before WTM (November 1-November 5) stand no chance of getting in the first daily paper.
• A separate news team is responsible for producing the WTM daily editions at the show. Our editorial office at ExCel is in Waterside room 22. You may drop off press releases to this office, but please do not bring clients – especially if you have missed your interview. Please keep visits for essential enquiries only as we have constant deadlines (you can bring gifts of beer, wine, food and erm, more beer!!).
• Enclosed are SEPARATE REQUEST FORMS for interviews for the first daily published on Monday November 8, and for interview and picture requests for each of the subsequent dailies. Please fill in appropriate form and send to Beth Craven at the address provided or by fax to 020-8652 3956.  We will contact you to confirm the interview. We CANNOT guarantee that you will get your requested interview slot, although we will do all we can to accommodate you. Those wishing to do pre-show interviews to appear in the Monday edition should put a suggested time and date for the telephone interview to take place.

First daily: The interview request deadline is Friday October 8.  Telephone interviews take place from October 11 to October 25.  

Other dailies: The interview and picture request deadline is Friday October 29. Interviews at WTM take place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the show. You will see that the form asks you to state where you would like the interview to take place.  Please ensure you provide a mobile number on which you will be contactable on the day.

GUIDELINES FOR INTERVIEWS

• We do not want to waste time interviewing people who have nothing to say. Stories such as refurbishments of individual hotels are not worthy of an interview but may be used if submitted in press release form.  If you have such a story for the first daily, send it to Beth Craven at our Sutton offices marked “WTM First Daily”. Ensure you have included contact details. If you have such a story for the other dailies, please hand in at the Travel Weekly newsroom at the event.
• ExCel is a very big place and it takes a good five minutes to walk its length. Please tell your clients to remember that when they are off exploring – they must leave sufficient time to get back to their stand for interview at the agreed time. Reporters are VERY BUSY and work to a very tight schedule. They WILL NOT wait while your clients are collected from the bar etc. A general guideline is that interviews will take around 15 minutes unless it is a particularly important story. The best stories for the dailies will be selected for the following weekly edition of Travel Weekly.

GUIDELINES FOR PICTURES Travel Weekly has photographers working at WTM on the Sunday before the show and the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of the show.

• We prefer exclusive stories and pictures for all the dailies and we will consider submitted stories and pictures for the first daily. The best pictures – that’s the most colourful and newsy – will be considered for the front page. Send to Travel Weekly offices for the attention of Beth Craven and marked “WTM Monday daily”. Pictures that fail to make the first edition will be considered for the subsequent editions of the dailies.

Have a great WTM.

Martin Lane

Editor