“The best travel magazine this side of Nanga Parbat” Sir Michael Palin.
That’s quite some statement coming from one of the legends of travel documentaries. But it wasn’t always the case for Wanderlust.
In 1992, Lyn Hughes and her late husband, Paul Morrison, were bored on a flight to South America and so schemed out their dream travel magazine on the back of a sickbag. The idea stuck and, returning to the UK a few months later, they launched Wanderlust magazine from their spare bedroom. Fast forward over 25 years to 2017. Lyn felt, as a small independent publisher, she had done as much as she could with the brand with the limited resources and team she had in place. She approached Think Media Group and they acquired Wanderlust to help realise the value of the brand.
With the support of a brilliantly dynamic, creative and hard-working team Wanderlust was reinvented and has since grown revenues and brand reputation beyond expectations.
With a growing reader tribe of conscious travellers, 2019 was a record-breaking year. Highlights included:
- Biggest-ever issue: with more pages and the highest revenue recorded
- Record-breaking subscription acquisitions: up 27% year-on-year
- An expanded brand footprint: with eight ‘oversubscribed’ live events
- Record-breaking creative output: with a 360°-approach to commissioning the team doubled its content output. Social following grew to 142,000
- Record-breaking revenues: multi-channel campaigns and increased use of video/micro-influencers saw revenue increase (67% online, 108% events, 27% print year-on-year)
Revenue 2016-2019
And even a global pandemic could not stop Wanderlust in its travelling tracks. We all found ourselves in a world where everyone quote simply stopped travelling. Revenues disappeared overnight and the story became one of innovating to survive – but that’s where the real magic happened.
The brand was also commissioned to write four books, including one on the successful quiz series and picked up yet another award, against all competitors, as they won TravMedia Travel Magazine of the Year in March.
They are also fiercely proud to have supported the travel industry by providing coverage, presenting at webinars and running a #wishIwasthere campaign to share travel inspiration. Alongside all this they became the first travel media brand to sign up to ‘Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency’ initiative, pledging to promote sustainable travel and reduce the brand’s impact.
Success is simply a brand innovating when the world’s quite literally against it. Determined to keep our travel dreams alive, I for one am grateful this magazine kept my travel dreams alive.
If you have been inspired by the Wanderlust journey Rethink would love to hear from you on how we can support your brands growth.
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