Publishers cash in on trend to local travel

THREE new travel magazines are lining up to slug it out for the largest chunk of the local travel market.

With one publication already on the streets and two more set to be launched, industry players are speculating whether the local tourism industry is hardy enough to sustain all three, despite an increase in domestic travel in WA.

In the ring will be recently launched quarterly Travel Talk – West Coast, quarterly Scoop Traveller Magazine and bi-monthly Postcards WA Magazine.

Atticus Communications plans to release its TV linked magazine in late March and Scoop Magazine will launch Scoop Traveller Magazine in May.

Publishers of tourism industry perennial Travel Talk – India Pacific and the new Travel Talk – West Coast are no strangers to the market.

Managing editor Craig Sinclair said the domestic holiday market was currently well patronised, with 81 per cent of tourists in WA coming from within the State.

Mr Sinclair said while there obviously was demand for local travel publications, he could not see how three similar magazines could survive.

“I don’t believe the market will support three travel magazines, there is not enough revenue and demand,” he said.

“A lot of people are under the misapprehension that the tourism industry is a big money spinner but it is actually made up of a lot of small businesses.”

Mr Sinclair said the response to the first issue of Travel Talk – West Coast had been “unbelievable”.

“Our magazine is aimed to be used as a sales tool and contains travel information to help readers buy the right holiday,” he said.

WA has a huge capacity for intrastate travel, according to Mr Sinclair.

“Everything is so close and there is such good quality nature,” he said.

Scoop Magazine director David Hogan said Scoop Traveller Magazine, currently bound with Scoop Magazine, had evolved from the success of the Getaway’s Guide.

Mr Hogan said it was because of the guide’s popularity that Scoop had grown from 160 pages to 224 in the one-and-half years since its inception.

“We have a formula that works; Scoop Magazine has an 85 per cent repeat client rate and the Getaway Guide has a 90 per cent repeat rate,” he said.