Internet Travel Sites Turn to Print to Supplement Their Web Information
Nov. 29, 2006. How ubiquitous has the Internet become in travel research? You know it's a sign when the travel media becomes surprised at the announcement of two new print publications, as evidenced in the Chicago Tribune . Two popular travel web sites, ShermansTravel.com and VirtualTourist.com, will try to reach out to those who still haven't connected to the information superhighway.
Sherman's Travel took a nod from the practicality of its web sibling, with clip-n-save, how-to features and highlights for the "upscale traveler who's looking for value." The bar has been set high, of course–the weekly Sherman's Top 25 travel deals email newsletter already has 3.5 million subscribers, according to the article. Four quarterly editions of the print publication will be available for $11.95.
Virtual Tourist will enter the guidebook market. The first five outings visit London, Paris, Montreal, San Francisco and Rome. Here's the twist: the content comes from online user-generated content, tweaked by a team of editors. It's a novel idea, but the Chicago Tribune reviewer was only mildly impressed.
We enjoy travel magazines and guidebooks, but we still rely on the good old-fashioned Internet. When we stay at vacation rentals , we find it useful to note what the rental owner talks about on the rental's web site description. The best web sites and lisitings of vacation rentals do a good job of describing not only their only rentals, but the local attractions as well.
