Fairfax Media Launches New Online Travel Destination Website Traveller.com.au

Australia’s most comprehensive travel website including innovative partnership with TripAdvisor.

Fairfax Media has launched an extensive consumer and trade advertising campaign to support the launch of Australia’s most comprehensive travel website, Traveller.com.au.

For more than seven years, Traveller has been inspiring Australians by delivering superior writing, beautiful photography and independent, expert advice through The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Sun-Herald, in print and online. Now these much loved travel articles, reviews and destination guides have a fresh new home online with the launch of Traveller.com.au.

Traveller’s audience research* has found that Australians are seeking transparent and credible travel advice and reviews to make informed travel decisions. For the first time, expert travel reviews and insider tips from Fairfax Media’s team of trusted writers sit alongside the latest user reviews from around the world thanks to a unique partnership with the world’s largest travel site, TripAdvisor.

Fairfax’s research into its travel audience also found that 77% of all trips* involve online research, 62% of Fairfax’s audience♯ who intend to travel accessed travel content on a mobile device and people visit on average of 13 different websites before booking their trip. Traveller.com.au will inspire Australians’ travel journeys with stories from the country’s most highly regarded travel writers, expert and user reviews, planning tools and the best curated holiday deals.

The consumer advertising campaign will use the positioning “Traveller.com.au – your destination for travel inspiration” and the headline “Let your mind roam”. The launch phase of the campaign will include print, radio and digital elements. From mid-October an interactive digital campaign to drive engagement and loyalty will launch using radio, digital, video and social media platforms.

The trade advertising campaign will feature elements from the consumer campaign and include media-i videos and eDMs.

Later this month, Fairfax Media and Traveller.com.au will launch a new, landmark study on the travel motivations of Australians.

Fairfax Media Group Director Life Media Melina Cruickshank said: “We’re excited to announce the launch of Traveller.com.au, a fantastic new addition to the Fairfax Media digital portfolio. In
partnership with TripAdvisor and built for an adaptive future, the site is a bold new destination for travellers seeking relevant and authentic inspiration.

“We are building on the long-standing success of our Traveller section to deliver our audience of more than 2.8 million people** an inspirational, trustworthy online travel destination.”
Traveller.com.au’s content will be created by Australia’s most credible and experienced travel writers. It features many unique destination content, holiday planning tools and trip deals never before accessible in the one place including:

• Six key sections for easy navigation including Destinations, Experiences, Travel Planning, Reviews, Travel Deals and Cruises.
• More than 700 international and domestic destinations showcased with beautiful magazine-style imagery, photography and exciting, inspiring content. Australians will also be able to explore destinations by experience, including search functionality with easy to use clickable icons across: family, beach, ski, luxury, driving holidays, food and wine, wellness and more.
• More than 1,500 accommodation reviews will sit alongside traveller reviews delivered by TripAdvisor. Featured on each review article are the latest user reviews from TripAdvisor and our newly introduced expert Traveller rating from our team of the most experienced travel writers and contributors in Australia, providing users with the tools to make the most suitable choices for their holiday.
• The latest and best holiday deals will feature across the site, hand-picked by Traveller.com.au’s expert travel team.
• A holiday planning calendar will recommend the best travel destinations month-bymonth and the site will feature the best travel deals hand-picked by its expert editorial team.
• With an unwavering focus on travel inspiration, users will also be able to share articles with friends and family, with content and images most inspirational to them on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Google+.

The consumer campaign was created by The Royals and the trade campaign was created by Fairfax Media.

Sources:

* Fairfax Traveller Audience Study 2012

# Nielsen Australian Connected Consumer Report, February 2014.

** emmaTM conducted by Ipsos MediaCT, People 14+ for the 12 months ending Jun 2014. Nielsen Online Ratings Jun 2014, People 14+ only. Read Traveller SMH/AGE/SH net L4W or accessed smh/age/brisbanetimes travel online L4W.