• by Dana Blankenhorn , March 26, 2003

"Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel" is moving ahead with its May redesign, which groups departments into three "neighborhoods" and offers a full-page franchise position opposite each "neighborhood."

Publisher Nancy Telliho said the neighborhoods - Wonderful World, Cutting the Cost, and Picking the Place - include all of the magazine's columns and departments. "This makes us a cleaner showcase for the advertiser. We'll be able to accommodate full pages opposite set openers every issue."

"Wonderful World" is a new section, which nearly triples coverage of basic topics. It includes "Checklist!," a section on new opportunities for low-cost travel formerly found at the back of the magazine, and "News, Views, and Reviews," which presents short items to assist consumers in making travel decisions.

Telliho describes the word "Budget" in the title as more of a psychographic than a demographic marker.

"They're not armchair travelers. Budget travel is, 'I want to go somewhere in the next 3-4 months, what's hot, how can I get there. It's more action-oriented. There's always a price point, 800 number, and Web site, with date availability."

The May book has a 132-page folio and June sales close April 1. Telliho is concerned about possible softness in June sales due to the Iraq war, but that is not due to troubles in the airline industry. "We're closing June as we speak," she said, and she's hopeful.

"Most travel magazines do not run much airline business. 'Business Week' probably gets more air pages than all the travel magazines. For us it's the convention and visitors bureau, destinations, and resorts" who are the big advertisers, especially domestic destinations. "They are holding fairly firm."

"Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel" is owned by The Washington Post.Co.'s Newsweek Inc. subsidiary. It was founded in 1998 and made Adweek's 2003 Hot List of top-performing magazines.