How travel publishers are adapting their editorial strategies for this holiday season

By Sara Guaglione

With the influx of rising prices, flight cancellations, and shifting COVID-19 related health and safety restrictions, traveling this holiday season might be more of a headache than usual. For many people, it may also be the first time going on a big trip since the start of the pandemic.

While many publishers are sticking to the pivots they made back in 2020 — such as travel guides on countries reopening to travelers, travel news coverage and tips and recommendations for taking trips during a pandemic — some publishers are coming out with new editorial undertakings and products to serve readers at this time.

Key details:

Red Ventures’ two brands Lonely Planet and Healthline Media teamed up to launch a Health Hub on Oct. 27, with information on the latest COVID-19 related travel information and news in 20 destinations around the world.
On Nov. 1, Atlas Obscura debuted a mobile app with a database of guides to over 22,000 places in the U.S. and 185 other countries.
TripSavvy published its annual Editors’ Choice Awards, but this year expanded it to include over 1,000 picks for the best in travel, tourism and hospitality.
Culture Trip created 30 itineraries for small-group trips in September.
In addition to articles about safely traveling for the holidays this year, Condé Nast Traveler will publish an interactive quiz to help readers decide where to go.

Lonely Planet and Healthline Media

Lonely Planet and Healthline Media’s new Health Hub has information including border restrictions, rules around testing and mask mandates on 20 places including in the U.S., Iceland and France. The hub also includes advice on travel health insurance, what to do if you get sick on a trip and recommendations for where to go and what to do, based on safety.

The COVID-19 hub is intended to be updated in real-time with stats and charts that speak to changing government warnings. While the landing page is updated daily, the destination pages are updated weekly.

“We were seeing across search and social a real uptick in questions and queries around health and safety logistics as a top of mind concern for our audience,” said Nitya Chambers, Lonely Planet svp of content and executive editor. The questions were mainly about what travelers needed to know about the rules and regulations of specific destinations “to get into a place and to return home again, and how to do that responsibly and sensitively,” Chambers said. She declined to provide specifics on how much these questions had increased recently.

“Travelers were showing continued interest and desire to travel, but showing real concerns with local policy regulations,” Chambers said.

The Health Hub will expand to cover more destinations and ultimately evolve to cover broader health and safety travel topics beyond COVID-19. “Our vision for this is a service that lives beyond this pandemic moment,” Chambers said.

Healthline Media’s travel health and wellness expert Dr. Jenny Yu is contributing a weekly column on topics like navigating large crowds and traveling to see friends and family and will answer readers’ questions …read more

Source:: Digiday