The New York Times already has two Weekend sections in the Friday paper, focusing on movies and other entertainment. Now there is Escapes, another feature section on weekend travel.
The section,
which launched last Friday, is the paper's first new theme section since 1998. It will boost the paper's ability to sell advertising in a number of categories that correspond to the editorial content
of the section--not just travel, but real estate and automotive, too.
The first issue featured ads for luxury rentals and luxury cars.
Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis says the section will
attract national real estate advertising, which is rare for the paper. "There's some in the Sunday magazine, but not a lot in the rest of the paper," she says. An example of a national real estate ad
would be an ad for rentals in resort locations, which attract a national audience.
There are no charter deals and no special rates for the section. "There's no change in rates, we didn't raise them
for the section," she says.
Package deals will be offered for advertisers who want to buy the Sunday travel section as well as Escapes, she says.
Advertisers are enthusiastic about the section,
because it's geared to a "large very educated and affluent audience that likes high end products," Mathis notes.
She says one of the Times' goals for the section is to boost national circulation.
Home delivery for the Times is in 210 markets now, compared with 62 in 1997. Escapes will make the paper more appealing to a national audience as well as national advertisers, she says.