WSJ expanding into Upscale Travel

Since the Wall Street Journal was bought by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. in 2007, two  high-end branded ventures have been introduced to the Wall Street Journal brandname: WSJwine, a mail-order online wine club and WSJstore, which offers Journal-branded merchandise, jewelry and accessories.
And now the company in a effort to broaden its subscriber base and drive new e-commerce revenue streams, the Wall Street Journal launched its own online travel agency, WSJtravel, last week with an inventory of branded trips to about 50 destinations Africa, Australia, Europe, Vietnam, South America and California.
The lineup of these 50 itineraries will be expanded within months to include more than 100 destinations, including the Caribbean and Hawaii, while also typical ski, golf and family themes are targeted.

WSJtravel CEO Chris Froelich, a seasoned American Express Travel exec, claims the venture as the “third leg of the stool, implying that the Wall Street Journal may have another “leg” waiting in the wings of expansion to online commerce.
“Destination and itinerary content is based on the travel content in the Wall Street Journal as well as the insight that was gained from 24 focus groups before the launch, with people expressing what kind of trips they wanted and the level of service they expected,” Froehlich added.

The WSJtravel customer targeted is “a niche-market, sophisticated, high-level traveler” and the product offerings as “a wide mix of destinations and prices, but not at the low end.”
The company is Headquartered in Iselin, N.J., with a corporate office in Princeton, N.J., and operations handled by Advanced Travel Center.

The enterprise as a brand extension of the Wall Street Journal. Advanced Travel Center was developed solely to handle the operations for WSJtravel.

WSJtravel offers two levels of vacation experiences, Froelich said. Its WSJtravel Signature packages offer what the company calls a “unique combination of destinations, activities and sensory experiences.”

A Chance to Sell Amelia Island?

Some examples of packages are: a nine-day Tuscany, Italy air-and-land escorted package that is priced from $5,699 features accommodations at a 1,000-year-old castle in Tuscany owned by a rare-book dealer who will offer private viewings of rare texts.
“Food is a highlight of our 12-day Vietnam trip, where our guests will literally go into the fields, work on a farm and dine with locals as part of the itinerary, which is priced from $4,299, including air and land.
The nine-day California winery trip, another Signature package, features top restaurants in the Napa Valley and access to private vineyards and wineries not usually open to visitors. The land-only price starts at $1,999 per person, double.

A s suggestion for Amelia Island’s upscale properties could be to put an accommodations – offshore fishing – golf and discover North Florida historic sightseeing package together (including St.Mary’s, St. Augustine, Cumberland Island etc.) for WSJTravel consideration. It seems their clientele is in for that type of itinerary or a theme based package for example to include the Concours d’Elegance festivities.

WSJtravel Classic Vacations offers more straightforward sightseeing itineraries, with a mix of independent and guided tours, including one of Paris that also features travel through the Loire Valley in a chauffeur-driven antique Citroen or a Mercedes six-seater van.
The website http://www.wsjtravel.com/ has booking capabilities even though  many customers in this price range ultimately want to talk to and book through a travel counselor,” Froelich said.

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