• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, May 16, 2011

Focused on a growing slate of travel publishers, Evolve Media on Monday is expected to debut a new travel-focused sales division.

To support Globetrotting Digital Media, the digital media company has hired a team of travel industry vets to exclusively represent this vertical inventory.

"We see a big opportunity to bring a custom solutions approach to what has traditionally been a network-driven marketplace," said Aaron Broder, CEO of Evolve Media. "Our goal is to fill the creative void left by traditional ad networks."

At launch, the GDM portfolio includes roughly 120 travel-focused publisher partners delivering 9.3 million unique global visitors monthly, according to Evolve, citing comScore data.

The newly launched Globetrotting Digital unit will be led by vice president of operations Tim Springstead, formerly of Travel Ad Network and IAC.

Springstead will work with Keith Bonnici, the division's general manager, to support the growth of the division.

Sales efforts will be led by a national team that includes former Sherman's Travel sales executive Krista Arrigo and West Coast sales and business development executive Renee Siemak.

By leveraging Evolve's creative services team, Broder hopes GDM will serve as a partner to advertisers looking to execute on custom display, video and sponsorship-driven branding initiatives.

According to Broder, Globetrotting Digital Media marks the third vertical that Evolve has launched in 2011 alone.

Evolve's vertical brand ad sales division, Gorilla Nation, services domestic digital ad sales for third-party publishers through four sales divisions: TotallyHer for women; Youthology for kids, teens, and tweens; Gorilla for entertainment and male-lifestyle, and Globetrotting for travel.