Condénet Relaunches Concierge.com
-- New site focuses on original,
inspirational travel content --
NEW YORK, November 21, 2005 – CondéNet, the online arm of
Condé Nast Publications, today announced the relaunch of
Concierge.com, the premiere site for travel information and online home
of Condé Nast Traveler.
The site has been re-engineered to provide users with original,
inspirational travel content, presented via a chic yet functional,
user-friendly design. Amidst a sea of sites that help users book
flights or find hotels, the new Concierge.com focuses primarily on the
first, most important piece of the travel-planning process—selecting the perfect
destination. Combining the comprehensive sweep of a guide book with
the filtered, insidery approach of a magazine, the site helps users
quickly find the best place to go to match their preferences, as well
as the best hotels, restaurants, and attractions in each destination.
The interactive nature of the site’s “Destination
Finder” also makes Concierge.com a compulsive browsing experience
for the armchair traveler.
The following new features are now available on the site:
- Destination
Guides: From Barcelona to Buenos Aires, almost 200 comprehensive,
original guides offer everything from "where to go" to "what to avoid,"
including hotel and restaurant reviews,shopping and nightlife tips, and
recommended itineraries.
- Destination
Finder: This unique, interactive tool makes researching vacation ideas
a breeze. Europe, Asia, or Australia? January, June or July? Adventure,
family, or culinary? Simply enter your trip requirements to see a range
of locations that satisfy your criteria.
- Super
Guides: Fancy a trip around Vegas with Robin Leach? Or perhaps you'd
like to follow Craig Newmark of Craig's List through San Francisco.
Concierge's Super Guides to the world's major destinations feature a
wealth of insider information, including quirky, personalized
itineraries by local luminaries.
- Integration
with Condé Nast Traveler : The new Concierge.com is a model of
how a
magazine can extend its brand onto the web. The ever-popular "Gold
List" and "Hot List" features are now fully searchable online, offering
a whole new way to experience these signature pieces.
- Travel
Ideas: That annual trip to Miami starting to feel like autopilot? The
new site offers fun, informative articles geared towards generating
fresh vacation ideas: the world's sexiest beaches, a culinary tour of
Italy, action-packed itineraries in eight ski resorts.
"This is a significant
departure for us as compared to the old site," said Jamie Pallot,
Editorial Director of CondéNet. "We have made a major investment
in original content, and combined that with a cool, clean interface
that actually makes it fun to research a trip. Plus, the level of
integration we have achieved with Condé Nast Traveler should
become a model for print/web properties going forward."
According to a September 2004 report by the Travel Industry Association
of America (TIA), a majority (67%) of online travelers say they consult
the Internet to get information on destinations or to check prices or
schedules. In addition, online travel research as a daily activity has
grown 67% from 6 million in 2000 to 10 million in 2004 (Pew Research
Center, Trends Report). Overall, TIA reports that 63.8 million
Americans use the Internet for travel planning.
"The
travel industry has been completely transformed by the Internet," said
Peter Frank, Editor-in-Chief, Concierge.com. "and, arguably, the
Internet has been transformed by the travel industry. No other part of
our lives has been so influenced by the Web than the way we travel. The
new Concierge.com builds upon the strengths of Condé Nast
Traveler by
incorporating interactive features and making the magazine's database
searchable. In the end, it's about helping people make every trip the
trip of a lifetime."
Concierge.com
The new Concierge.com, which will go live in November, incorporates
original, interactive features on every aspect of travel; highlights
from Condé Nast Traveler, re-engineered for optimum online
browsing; almost 200 original, in-depth, insider guides to top
destinations around the world; a "destination finder" that lets readers
narrow down the perfect place for any trip; almost 10,000 photographs
of hotels, destinations, landmarks, and more; a suite of interactive
tools to help readers make smart travel plans; a range of travel deals
targeted to specific destinations; and a powerful search function to
aid navigation.
CondéNet
CondéNet is the leading creator and developer of upscale
lifestyle brands online, providing enjoyable, useful services that
build upon the heritage of the world's most prestigious magazines. The
company publishes significant online properties in the categories of
food (Epicurious.com), travel (Concierge.com), and fashion (STYLE.COM
and MEN.STYLE.COM); these titles have won numerous accolades from
bodies including the American Society of Magazine Editors, the James
Beard Foundation, Media Industry Newsletter, and the Webby Awards.
Based in New York, CondéNet is owned by Condé Nast, a
privately held media company. |
