Morris Communications Company, of the US, and Think Publishing, of the UK, are merging their respective subsidiaries Morris Visitor Publications Europe and Wanderlust Publications.
The new company will be called Think Travel. Its brands include: Wanderlust, Where London, Where Paris, and the London Planner. Despite the joint ownership of the new company, the branding implies it will eventually become wholly-owned by Think. Wanderlust is a 27-year-old monthly magazine, covering adventurous, cultural and special interest travel. It runs the Travel Photo of the Year competition and the World Guide Awards for tour guides.
The Canada-owned, free monthly Where claims to be the world’s largest visitor magazine, distributed primarily through hotels with the support of concierge organisations. Founded in 1938, it has more than 60 editions including some 40 in the US. Most are published under licence by Morris. The travel publishing merger helps to spotlight Think Publishing, the London-based company which specialises in media mainly for membership organisations.
It has revenue of some £17m, profit of £800m, 80 staff, and 40 clients. CEO and co-founder Ian McAuliffe says the company does “what it says on the tin. We are a membership communications agency. We specialise in publishing and all the things that are associated with it… sponsorship, events, exhibitions, digital, and email for membership clients.”
A feature of the 21-year-old company’s approach may be the design quality of its largely B2B publications, many of which win awards in competition with mainstream consumer magazines. Think acquired the financially fragile Wanderlust in 2017, the year in which the magazine had losses of £336k. It is believed to have paid just £80k in the deal which was marked by Think increasing its total 2018 revenue by 20% and profit by 50%.
