American Express Publishing
1120 Avenue of the Americas
9th Floor
New York, NY 10036
fax: 212/536-2020
http://www.skyguide.net
American Express Publishing already has a hold on the most affluent business travelers in America with its SkyGuide title (not to mention Travel + Leisure, T+L Golf and other
luxury titles). Now the company has launched a new quarterly as a supplement to the monthly flight directory (the first issue went out with the May SkyGuide), focusing on the
lifestyle of that well-heeled traveler. The 160,000 subscribers to the new SkyGuide GO are 82 percent male and are primarily senior-level executives and small business owners.
They take an astounding 49 business trips per year and want more information on how to get the most out of their travels, from transportation to accommodations to all the
entertainment you can pack into a two-hour layover. "The magazine is all about business travel and the lifestyle you lead as a business traveler, says Editor and Publisher Janet
Libert. "We'll cover anything to do with any organization a business traveler will come in contact with - restaurants, technologies that make being on the road easier, leisure
information."
Content/Contacts
The magazine will feature a wide variety of travel-related information. Everything from advertising on the backs of tray tables to a club room opening is fair game. The editors
also want to be sure they include information on parts of a city a business traveler typically wouldn't see - in case the traveler brings a spouse and extends the trip into a long
weekend, or has a few hours before a flight. For example, editors are currently working on a destination piece on Atlanta and want to know about unusual things for the traveler to
do: "What's the alternative to Peachtree Street?" Libert says.
Send all pitches to Mary Anne Madruga at [email protected] or 1120 Avenue of the Americas, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10036.
Madruga is the pub's editorial assistant and will sift through all pitches and send them to the appropriate writers.
Pitch Tips
Calling is the worst way to catch the editors. They prefer emails, faxes or snail mail packages and want more information than less.
Also, while they want to hear about anything pertaining to business travel, the editorial staff wants the information The Wall Street Journal and USA Today aren't covering.
"They do a great job covering travel," Libert says. "We want to take travel coverage they do well and do it better."
Get creative about pitches. Instead of pitching the Heavenly Bed (a well-known Westin amenity that's very old news to the travel community), pitch a story on how Westin execs
came up with the idea. "How do hotels choose amenities for business travelers?" Libert wants to know.
"We really want ideas and suggestions that are very cutting edge and off-the-beaten-path," she reiterates.
Comments
The next issue, coming out this fall, will be released with the September issue of SkyGuide. The end of June and the very early days of July are the deadline for most editorial
leads, Libert says. The pub goes to press in mid-August.
Libert and her staff are very open to hearing any news on the business traveler and the organizations and institutions that affect him. That means they're happy to receive
pitches from the PR community. "We truly do want to talk about any of the new things out there. But we want them to be very cutting edge."
In The Pipeline
Coming up is a good deal of coverage on the future of the airline industry. The pub will probe the industry with a variety of articles examining the impact of low-fare
carriers, the effects of the Internet and how airlines are changing their fare structure as a result.
Although the magazine does not yet have a financial department per se, "These are some of the most savvy, high-spending affluent travelers." So, coverage of personal finance
and investment is not out of the realm of possibility, Libert says.