SECAUCUS, N.J. -- Northstar Travel Group, parent company of
Travel Weekly, has acquired travAlliancemedia, the owner of well-known brands
including TravelPulse.com, TravelPulse Canada, Agent at Home, Travel Agent
Academy, Agent Studio and a portfolio of custom-content solutions, marketing
services, and software and marketing tools for the retail travel community.
Northstar also bought Buying Business Travel, which faces
the corporate travel market, from London-based Panacea Media, as well as CAT
Media, which serves the meetings and incentives industries from its
headquarters in East Grinstead, England.
"The addition of travAlliancemedia's well-known brands
serving the retail, home-based and independent travel advisor market complement
Northstar's leadership brands, including Travel Weekly and TravelAge West,
serving the retail travel industry," said Thomas Kemp, Chairman & CEO
of Northstar Travel Group.
"The acquisition provides Northstar with an
unparalleled portfolio of marketing services, online media, events and
marketing tools serving the travel advisor community and connecting travel
suppliers and destinations to this audience," Kemp said.
Mark Murphy, the founder and CEO of travAlliancemedia, will
become an advisor to the Northstar and travAlliancemedia combination. "We
know the Northstar team and brands very well and believe this is a great
combination of talent, complementary brands, and online services to better
serve the travel advisor market," Murphy said.
The travAlliancemedia portfolio includes:
TravelPulse.com: a leading online brand serving the travel
advisor community in the U.S. with approximately 1 million monthly visitors.
TravelPulse connects destinations, travel suppliers and travel advisors with
real time information and marketing services.
TravelPulse Canada, TravelPulse Quebec, and TravelPulse
Mexico: The leading online information sites serving the Canadian and Mexican travel
advisory communities.
Agent at Home: The
leading brand serving the home-based and independent travel advisor community
with information, marketing services and events.
Travel Agent Academy: The leading online education platform providing travel advisors with
certification for travel destinations and suppliers.
Agent Studio: A business that gives travel advisors the
ability to build custom websites that also feature an integrated marketing
platform. This enables travel advisors to connect and market their services to
clients and prospects with offers, online information and news about the latest
happenings in travel.
"The travAlliancemedia portfolio is a perfect strategic
fit with Northstar's core information and marketing services brands serving the
retail travel industry," said Bob Sullivan, president of Northstar's
Travel Group. "We are very excited about the growth opportunities in
Canada, and we will work with [president and editor in chief of TravelPulse
Canada] John Kirk, to determine what
Northstar brands and products we may introduce in Canada."
Company buys U.K. corporate travel, meetings brands
The deal to acquire Buying Business Travel,a
business-to-business brand in the U.K. serving the corporate travel industry,
was also concluded on Monday. Its portfolio includes The Business Travel
Awards, which recognizes the leadership of corporate travel suppliers; The BBT
Business Travel Forums; BBT Editor's Lunches; and Buying Business Travel
magazine.
Louis Magliaro, senior vice president and group publisher of
Northstar's BTN Group, said Buying Business Travel "is an
excellent strategic fit with Northstar's Business Travel News, Travel
Procurement and The Beat brands along with the recently acquired Business
Travel Show in London."
Early this morning, Northstar closed on the purchase of CAT
Media, a global multi-platform business-to-business information, marketing
services and events business for the U.K. meetings and incentive industry.
Among its brands are Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine,
Association Meetings International magazine, Meetpie.com (an online membership portal
for meetings professionals), M&IT Challenges, M&IT Awards,
VenueSource.com, and Convention-Source.com.