• by Melynda Fuller , June 10, 2020

Travel brands Lonely Planet and Culture Trip are approaching the re-opening of the tourism industry with a strategic commercial partnership called Travel Reborn.

Travel Reborn finds the brands collaborating on ways to connect advertisers with their combined complimentary audiences and platforms through a message of sustainability and responsible travel.

The initiative aims to move beyond practices of the past, like overtourism and generic cultural experiences, by focusing on sustainable travel options, respectful interactions with other cultures and responsible wildlife and outdoor experiences. It will combine that with support for local businesses and communities.

“Since the publication of its first guidebook in 1973, Lonely Planet has believed that responsible travel can be a force for good, and now, as the world re-emerges from lockdown, we have an incredible opportunity to rethink how we go about it,” Luis Cabrera, CEO of Lonely Planet, stated.

Through the partnership, Lonely Planet and Culture Trip offer advertisers access to their combined audience, which reportedly reached more than 100 million unique users in the second half of 2019. Across their social-media channels, the brands count more than 20 million followers.

Partners and advertisers will find brand-safe, cross-platform distribution across advertising solutions that include display ads, bespoke campaigns, branded content, social media, video, mobile app integration, email and experiential activations.

In addition to advertising opportunities and placement, the new offering is boosted by insights into the travel mindset of consumers following the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal is the creation of relevant, effect campaigns that note social-media interactions and content engagement trends.

“Together, we want to help our global audiences discover new experiences, develop new habits and reshape how they connect with places and cultures — it is a truly unique alliance within our sector that has the opportunity to change behaviors for good,” stated Dr Kris Naudts, founder-CEO of Culture Trip.

He continued: “We have a common mission, and we would love other brands and advertisers to partner with us on this important journey that will reach a global audience at a time when we see appetite for travel returning.”