Inspire Magazine Takes Off

Media release

27 March 2007

Inspire Magazine Takes Off

New glossy travel magazine hits newsstands

Inspire magazine, New Zealand’s new premium travel magazine, hits newsstands on 02 April. And it’s already broken new ground for travel media.

“Inspire magazine has set a new standard for travel publications in New Zealand. The magazine is 132 pages of stunning photography and great writing from award-winning New Zealand photographers and journalists. I feel confident that Inspire is already New Zealand’s best travel title,” says Martin Bell, a director of HB Media, publisher of Inspire.

Advertisers and retailers clearly agree. The launch issue exceeded its advertising budget and has been accepted into all major book, magazine and supermarket chains.

With a distribution of 35,000+ copies, Inspire is set to be one of the most important new lifestyle magazines to launch in recent years.

Innovative partners
Inspire is breaking the mould of travel media: the magazine and companion web site, www.inspiremagazine.co.nz, are a joint effort between HB Media and New Zealand’s largest privately owned travel company, House of Travel.

“We already know that Kiwis are the world’s greatest travellers,” says Chris Paulsen, founder and managing director of House of Travel. “We also know that Kiwis digest more magazines per capita than any other people. Combining our expertise with HB Media’s made perfect sense and we are very excited with the result.”

Inspire is published quarterly and distributed to top House of Travel customers and sold in supermarkets and on the newsstand.

By Kiwis for Kiwis
The Kiwi connection in Inspire is strong— and reflected in the sub-title “How Kiwis See the World”, also the tagline of House of Travel.

“We see the Kiwi view of the world as hugely important to our success as a local magazine,” says Inspire editor Sarah Heeringa. “Our travel writers and photographers are a roll call of some of the country’s best. And their take on travel is unique, reflecting the fact that New Zealanders do in fact travel and view the world differently to other cultures.

Naturally it is much more appealing to read travel stories written by Kiwis for Kiwis which is exactly what Inspire does.”

Both HB Media and House of Travel are wholly Kiwi-owned companies. “There are only a handful of New Zealand-owned media and travel companies. It’s something both companies are proud of and we believe the New Zealand public has been waiting for a travel magazine like this,” says Bell.

Kiwis are the world’s greatest travellers
The $7 billion spent last year on domestic travel—up nearly five percent on the previous year—and the $3 billion spent last year on international travel, as recorded by the Ministry of Tourism, provides compelling evidence of the central role travel plays in New Zealander’s lives. Inspire understands this love of travel and with twenty years in the travel industry, House of Travel knows the particular ways Kiwis like to travel.

Kiwis have a unique way of seeing the world. “We have an inherent dislike of simply being a tourist,” says Chris Paulsen, House of Travel founder and managing director. “We love to integrate ourselves into the community of the country we are visiting. We want to learn and know more; we are fascinated by other cultures and places.

“Kiwis are naturally inquisitive and like to try new things. An example of this is Virgin Galactic statistics which show that New Zealanders have demonstrated one of the highest levels of interest per capita in Richard Branson’s pioneer space travel programme.“

Heeringa said research shows more New Zealanders are travelling and with greater frequency. “If time is the new luxury, then taking time to travel well is the ultimate way to spend this valuable new currency. At Inspire we believe the best travel is about more than just sightseeing; it involves personal encounters in a world rich with diverse cultures, people and cuisine.”

Website and magazine combination
An additional innovation is the link between Inspire magazine and the website (www.inspiremagazine.co.nz). The website makes use of House of Travel’s extensive online resource (www.houseoftravel.co.nz) and booking technology to give readers access to enormous depth of content and travel assistance.

Readers of Inspire can use the website to:

- explore destinations in more detail
- make price comparisons on international airfares
- seek professional travel advice from a House of Travel expert
- book their flights and accommodation

“The site is a real bonus for our readers, who we know are heavy internet users and committed travel researchers,” says Heeringa.

“We’ll also be using the site to deepen our contact with readers, run competitions and seek more dynamic two-way contact. Everyone loves to share their travel stories which we can do both online and in print. The online potential is very exciting.”

About House of Travel
The House of Travel Group has forecasted turnover of $750m for 2007, 90 retail outlets (with specialist corporate, adventure and leisure and group travel outlets) throughout New Zealand, its own award winning aggregated booking website www.houseoftravel.co.nz and two wholesale companies (both inbound and outbound). It employs in excess of 1,100 people and is privately owned (by New Zealander Chris Paulsen) and operated since it was established in 1987.

About HB Media
HB Media is a print and online publishing company founded by Martin Bell and Vincent Heeringa. It publishes Idealog magazine, New Zealand’s largest circulating business magazine, and produces a number of custom publications for clients including ASB, AUT University, Telecom, NZTE and more. It also manages AUT Media, the new publishing arm of AUT University.

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