BudgetTravelOnline Unveils New Site with More Features, More Functions and More Fun for ‘Real’ Travelers
Trusted Source of Travel News Adds Expert Features, On-Demand Video,
New Travel Tools, User-Generated Content
NEW YORK, April 16, 2007 — BudgetTravelOnline, the online destination for travel at affordable prices, published by Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine and WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive, today unveiled a totally redesigned Web site that offers a cleaner, more user-friendly layout, more features, new travel tools and increased reader/visitor interaction.
Already a hugely popular resource for travelers, the new site is even more of a one-stop shop for the growing legions of travelers who go online to plan and book their trips.
“BudgetTravelOnline prides itself on being a comprehensive source of information for ‘real’ people seeking vacations,” said Michelle Preli, BudgetTravelOnline’s general manager. “We’ve always provided fast-breaking travel deals that may have missed the print magazine’s publishing deadlines. Among the exciting elements of this redesign is a new, higher level of interactivity, improvements in site navigation and layout, all intended to help our readers discover, enjoy and benefit from all of the features the site now has to offer.”
New expert editorial features include:
New travel tools include:
“In keeping with our commitment to providing real information and real deals for ‘real people,’ the Priceline booking capabilities is a terrific addition to the site,” said Nancy Telliho, BudgetTravelOnline’s publisher. Priceline is the travel service that lets one choose exact flights and times for incredible travel savings or take advantage of the service’s unique Name Your Own Price® feature. With the launch of the new site, Priceline will serve as BudgetTravelOnline’s exclusive booking engine sponsor.
New reader Engagement features include:
“BudgetTravelOnline already has a great dialogue and longstanding relationship with our readers—we are fortunate to have some of the most loyal, active readers on the Web,” Preli said. “Our hope is to expand that dialogue and give them a real sense of empowerment to the constantly evolving traveler by providing them with an online community where they can share and learn from each other’s experiences.”
BudgetTravelOnline also launched the first of several unique story packages that will appear on the new site. Geared toward the summer family travel season, “Zoo Baby Watch” highlights new animal babies from top zoos around the United States and will include a slideshow of the babies “’Zoo Baby Watch’ is a superb example of how the revamped BudgetTravelOnline delivers both captivating imagery, hard-to-find information and irresistible deals for those looking to save time and money as well as avoid hassles,” Preli said.
Separately, the Austrian Tourist Office has signed on as the Launch Sponsor for BudgetTravelOnline’s revamped site. As part of the launch sponsor package, the Austrian Tourist Office purchased all of the site’s advertising units and will have a run of site media for two months, beginning April 16.
About Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel
The ultimate reader-driven magazine, Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel rewards its travel-hungry audience with the inside scoop from around the globe. Surpassing the usual lineup of fantasy coffee-table magazines, Budget Travel focuses on providing "vacations for real people" by merging eye-catching imagery with valuable, practical knowledge. Featuring must-know tips, secret addresses, humorous stories, smart deals, and timely news, Budget Travel and its web site BudgetTravelOnline.com, has become an indispensable source for educated and sophisticated consumers. The magazine serves a circulation rate base of 600,000 and has realized steady and consistent ad page growth every year since it was acquired by Newsweek in 1999. BudgetTravelOnline.com serves over 2 million page views per month and nearly 500,000 unique visitors per month.
About Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive
Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI) is the online publishing subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO). Its mission is to create truly interactive platforms that offer unmatched user experiences by developing editorial products with world-class reporting, multimedia features and award-winning content.
WPNI’s news and information sites, which include washingtonpost.com, Slate, Newsweek.com and Budget Travel Online, inform and encourage conversation and debate while reaching millions of unique and active users each month. WPNI properties’ long lists of awards include the first-ever Emmy for original video journalism online awarded to washingtonpost.com, as well as National Journalism Awards, Pictures of the Year International Award, several Digital Edge Awards, multiple Edward R. Murrow Awards and White House New Photographer's Association Awards, among others.
The company is headquartered in Arlington, VA
####
Media Contacts:© The Washington Post Company
