Home › SHY Thoughts ›

Death of a publication

From left: Siew Hoon, Ruby, Pauline and Ian

TravelWeekly
Born: April 11, 2000
Departed: February 2009
“It flew with the birds and sank with the economy”

I had a bitter sweet moment at AIME, Melbourne, this week. I walked into the press room where my former colleagues from TravelWeekly and EVENTS were producing the show dailies.

It was the team’s swan song. The week before, an announcement had been made that the two publications would close. The only one to continue would be TravelWeekly China.

In there were Ruby Gonzalez, the editor, whom I had recruited so many years ago to be on the team, Ian Jarrett, whom I had worked with since pre-TravelWeekly days and Pauline Goh, whose ties with me go back so long we don’t even want to remember out of fear it will remind us of how old we are.

Watching them work in that press room brought back a huge dose of nostalgia. Ruby was kind enough to allow me to write a short piece for the AIME Daily. It felt good. It helped bring closure.

I still remember the launch of TravelWeekly and if I were to write an obituary for it, the first two sentences would read like this:

“TravelWeekly was born on April 11, 2000, as Travelweekly East (left). It took flight along with a flock of pink flamingoes at the Jurong Bird Park at a launch party held jointly with the Singapore Tourism Board, which was launching its “Live It Up” campaign.

“Colourful balloons, clowns and dancers greeted the launch of the publication whose entry had been anticipated by the travel industry. It was after all a global brand whose time for Asia had come.”

And now it is no more. A global brand that tried to make it in Asia but did not have the commitment and stamina to stick around for the long haul.

It will make an interesting case study someday.

It is always sad when something dies. It was launched with such promise. It got people talking. It didn’t shy from controversy. It analysed. It reported. It asked the tough questions. It ran events when it felt the industry needed them. It was colourful, different and quirky, just what the industry needed at the time.

It gave me some of the best five years of my life and, with it, the platform on which I could launch my own career.

For that, thank you, TravelWeekly.

I am sure TravelWeekly and EVENTS will not be the last to go down in this market. It’s always been tough for business-to-business travel publications. Costs are high, margins are thin, and shrinking. The value of the middle men in the distribution channel is constantly being questioned and challenged.

It has to fight with consumer media for the travel advertising spend and now it has to compete with travel websites like Wego, Expedia and ZUJI, not to mention the new e-publications that have launched on the back of the Web explosion.

And with ad dollars shrinking, well, it’s going to be a bloodbath out there.

Yes, TravelWeekly’s closure is indicative of the tough times but I wonder if companies are also using this period as an excuse to do the expedient.

Sack people, cut jobs, close publications, shut divisions, delay openings ...

Selfishly, I am glad I was there at the start and not at the end. That would have been too painful.

Sad and nostalgic is how I am feeling on learning of the death of TravelWeekly, as one who has been with it since its birth and now its death.

I still remember the flock of pink flamingoes flying out of the water on cue at the Jurong Bird Park to signal the launch of TravelWeekly East. What a sight and what a moment!

As Judith Durham sings, "The Carnival is Over". But we had some good times and a good run, didn't we?

I too had a good five years working full time with TravelWeekly. Thank you Siew Hoon for the opportunity.

Yeah..it is indeed sad to see that it is finally over. I had a good eight years with TravelWeekly. In fact, I was the last from your team to leave. Yes, I remember the launch and the roadshows and seeing the publications evolved through the years. It has its sweet and sad moments and I think they have already ran a good race.

It could only be you who could understand TravelWeekly best and to write about its demise so beautifully.

Thank you for doing it Siew Hoon.

Sad to hear that...I also remember that evening at Jurong Bird Park, it was during my Sarawak days and STB (the Sarawak one) was a strong supporter. The original team really formed the backbone of an excellent publication, but through the years, attrition and increasing competition for ad dollars probably led to this, with the current crisis driving the nail...I wish the TravelWeekly team all the best in any new venture. Bye bye TravelWeekly :-(

I am sorry to see the demise of TravelWeekly as a result of the poor economy and the trend to switch from printed publications to electronic ones.

TravelWeeklyEast as it was named at its launch was one of the very best travel publications as such with the most relevant articles based on good research and inside knowledge of the trade.

I am sad to see them go.

Happy Trails!

Luzi Matzig

Yes I remember it well. Siew Hoon leading us on and a sense of camaraderie amongst us writers. It was like being in a family.
Trust we'll all keep in touch as we have.
Neelam

A DAY OF PASSING but not a day of mourning so much as a look back at the good work and good people that came out of it that can provide good reading for us still form other vantage points today.

To build and hold success in Asia Pacific requires of those who venture into this realm the awareness of the likely long term commitment - like too many companies in our industry, not just in our media, too frequent changes in ownership, direction and personnel make it inevitable that original dreams risk their own demise when the dreamers move on or lose their angels- so , Next Time, Carpe Diem but stay the course!!

Oh, by the way, Siew Hoon, most of us would think your 'career' was on its way even well before 1990, but if you want to confuse the date man,Old Father Time one more time, that's ok with us too, young girl!! Your BF.