After almost 20 years of publishing Bank Travel Management magazine, The Group Travel Leader Inc. will expand the magazine’s readership and rebrand it Select Traveler in January 2014. The move is designed not only to broaden the magazine’s coverage of upscale travel groups as a whole, but also to give it a name that is more easily understood by the next generation of travel industry influencers and marketers.
“Bank Travel Management has been very successful in elevating the role of bank travel program directors to the top tier of travel planners in the industry,” said Mac Lacy, president and publisher of The Group Travel Leader Inc. “America’s largest tour operators and the travel industry alike have marketed successfully to this group through Bank Travel Management magazine for nearly two decades. But the long-term success of any business magazine requires recognizing industry trends and adding new qualified readers when they can be identified. In this case, an exciting new name also seems appropriate.”
The January issue of Select Traveler, which will be mailed to all bank travel directors just as Bank Travel Management has been, will also incorporate more than 1,500 travel planners for chambers of commerce and university alumni programs. Like banks, those community-based loyalty travel programs reach out to the top tier of group travel consumers and fit the profile for Select Traveler magazine.
“This is an exciting step forward for the travel industry and our further expansion into the realm of niche travel groups,” said Charlie Presley, chairman of the Group Travel Family and Lacy’s partner in both Bank Travel Management and the new magazine, Select Traveler. “Marketing in today’s world has become very niche oriented, and we look forward to continuing to serve bank clubs and to bringing these new readership niches — chamber travel groups and alumni travel groups — in as key components of Select Traveler magazine.”
As a result of the rebranding, Select Traveler will reach more than 5,000 qualified travel planners for banks, chambers and alumni groups. Its travel industry readership will be expanded as well, to yield an overall circulation of more than 6,000 highly qualified readers involved in all aspects of travel for upscale groups. Editorial content for the magazine will continue to be designed exclusively for those high-profile travel programs, and the magazine will continue to be published bimonthly as Bank Travel Management has been.
