TDS Europe 2006 special: By EyeforTravel Correspondent<br><br>Travelzoo’s Top 20 newsletter in the UK now reaches more t

TDS Europe 2006 special: By EyeforTravel CorrespondentTravelzoo’s Top 20 newsletter in the UK now reaches more than 500,000 subscribers every week.

Published: 11 Jul 2006

TDS Europe 2006 special: By EyeforTravel Correspondent

Travelzoo’s Top 20 newsletter in the UK now reaches more than 500,000 subscribers every week.

“Any media company that is able to attract and retain a quality weekly audience of 10 million travel enthusiasts has an obvious competitive advantage. In today’s highly fragmented media environment, very few publishers can claim such scale and influence. It is very important that we maintain the quality of our publications as we continue to grow,” Loughlin had recently told EyeforTravel.com’s Ritesh Gupta.

In an interview, Loughlin spoke about company’s operations and strength. Excerpts:

How do you think you are in a position to leverage Travelzoo’s strong base in North America for European operations?

Travelzoo Inc. has seen 31 consecutive quarters of profitable revenue growth and is a NASDAQ traded company. Forbes Magazine recently rated Travelzoo as a top 3 growth company. In addition to leveraging our strong financial position, we have been able to transfer operational process, marketing know-how and publishing knowledge. We also have the foundation of a very strong brand in the US.

Online advertising: advertising budget or distribution cost? Does the industry need to change its traditional view of what constitutes a marketing expense in order to fully exploit the web marketing opportunity?

I think of it in terms of push and pull media. Newspapers, TV and outdoor traditionally captured fixed push advertising budgets in travel. GDS systems and travel agents traditionally captured flexible pull budgets. Within online media, I believe it makes sense that email and display advertising should sit within the push arena, while search which is a pull media should be tasked against traditional distribution cost. Like a TV or newspaper ad, the consumer doesn't know what they are going to see in the next email or display ad. Like a GDS or travel agent, the user does know what to expect when he/she makes a search enquiry.

What’s your prediction for future? How do companies like yours are shaping future of print advertising and online advertising?

TV displaced print and radio, but all three co-exist today. In travel, Internet media is already taking a large share of the pie from print and TV, this will continue to grow, but all will co-exist. Travel is perfect for the Internet, it can be booked online quickly with a credit card. Consumers can find more and better travel information online today than was ever possible with print or TV. With the continued fragmentation of media, I believe those publishers who can offer quality information and simplify our lives will succeed.

How do you think your dealing with clients (advertisers) has changed in the last six months or so?

Our audience has almost doubled over the last 6-months, we now reach more than 450,000 subscribers in the UK. As a result, our advertisers are able to reach many more travel enthusiasts with their offers and achieve greater response and brand awareness. The strong performance for advertisers means more demand for our media, 40+ advertisers have started working with us since January 1.

What’s on your agenda? What are your future plans?

I’ve worked for Travelzoo for five years and Travelzoo Europe for just one, I’m loving every minute. Travel, internet, advertising and a world class team - it doesn't get much better. I can’t predict the future, but a week long holiday will factor in there sometime before the end of 2008.

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