Time Inc.’s Travel + Leisure Partners with Global Travel Purveyor Black Tomato on New E-Commerce Initiative: Travel + Leisure Journeys

Editor-Crafted One-of-a-Kind Trips to Cuba, Italy, Mongolia and Beyond Now Instantly Bookable

NEW YORK & LONDON--()--Time Inc.’s Travel + Leisure today announced an e-commerce partnership with Black Tomato, a leading purveyor of luxury, tailor-made experiential travel. The collaboration centers on a new franchise, Travel + Leisure Journeys, which is a set of 20 editorially crafted vacations introduced in September across print and online that will be bookable through Black Tomato’s worldwide network. This initiative is a first-of-its-kind for T+L and enables its 8 million-plus and growing audience to actually experience trips designed by T+L editors. It is also an example of Time Inc.’s strategic approach to expand its world class brands, premium content and passionate audiences into new revenue streams.

Each of the T+L Journeys offers the opportunity to interact with locals, the thrill of the unexpected and off-the-beaten path adventures—elements that are among the most commonly cited by T+L readers when they are asked about their favorite aspects of travel. All of the journeys are also among the most difficult to plan, so T+L editors have worked with Black Tomato’s travel experts to create these trips. All of the trips are now bookable through Black Tomato via tandl.me/journeys or by calling 844-284-0205.

The vacations range in length and cover close-to-home and far-flung destinations, including Croatia, Cuba, Iceland, India, Japan, Morocco, Myanmar, Oman, Spain, Tennessee, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The shortest trip, starting at $1,960 per person for a four-day getaway to Palm Springs, California, includes a tour of the destination’s midcentury landmarks with a local architecture expert. The longest and most unusual trip is a 24-day epic adventure in Papua New Guinea, starting at $14,175 per person; highlights of that trip include overnights at remote camps that offer access to the ancestral hunting grounds of the Kosua, a tribe of roughly 1,000 people; spelunking in limestone caves; and hiking into the Bosavi Crater.

Every one of the 20 trips includes bespoke experiences and eye-opening activities that range from the adventurous to the more culturally immersive, such as the Lake Como and Milan itinerary in Italy that offers readers unique insider access to iconic palatial villas on the shores of Lake Como that are usually closed to the public. In Spain, guests can join award-winning chef Ramón Freixa on an exclusive culinary adventure where they’ll be able to learn his tips for mastering Spanish cuisine.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of the T+L brand’s successful print and digital redesign in April and embodies the company’s strategy to expand the brand into a global media enterprise. T+L VP/Publisher Jay Meyer noted, “It is an exciting time at Travel + Leisure as we develop services and products that we know our readers will value. We see tremendous potential in experiential travel, and Black Tomato brings exceptional client service, deep knowledge and a strong digital presence to Travel + Leisure Journeys, making it an ideal partner."

Travel + Leisure Editor Nathan Lump added, “I am delighted to be able to offer our audience of passionate travelers the opportunity to book trips that we have crafted with Black Tomato. A genuine reflection of our point of view, these are the places we are most excited about as editors and are the types of experiences we know our readers seek. And what sets Travel + Leisure Journeys apart is that all the itineraries are truly custom to us: This is not a white-labeled product."

Black Tomato is one of the leading suppliers for tailor-made experiential travel, providing innovative, inspiring and exclusive experiences to its discerning client base from around the globe. It is internationally acclaimed for its personalized and innovative approach to travel, focusing on experience first and avoiding standard off-the-shelf-style vacations. The company was started in 2005 by Tom Marchant, James Merrett and Matt Smith, who shared a deep passion for new experiences that push boundaries. Now, 10 years later, Black Tomato remains known for its award-winning, engaging and inspiring online and offline content.

Black Tomato co-founder Tom Marchant noted, “We’re delighted to be collaborating with Travel + Leisure in designing and bringing these journeys to life. We’ve been skillfully crafting bespoke vacations for our clients around the globe for over a decade, and our years of experience have helped us understand and perfect the formula for creating enriching and memorable travel experiences that inspire and challenge. We’re thrilled to be able to offer our award-winning service and first-hand knowledge of the world’s most iconic and most under-the-radar destinations. Throughout this collaboration we’ve enjoyed sharing and working on ideas with the Travel + Leisure team, and we’re greatly looking forward to this collective vision and relationship developing further.”

The Travel + Leisure October issue cover features Morocco’s Erg Chebbi sand dunes, one of the destinations included in a Travel + Leisure Journeys vacation. Travel + Leisure Journeys is featured editorially across nearly 13 pages in the October issue.

About TRAVEL + LEISURE

Travel + Leisure is the preeminent voice for the sophisticated, insatiable traveler, serving up expert intelligence and the most immersive, inspiring travel lifestyle content anywhere. Travel + Leisure captures the pure joy of discovering the pleasures the world has to offer—from art and design to shopping and style to food and wine. Whether the experience is in print or digital, T+L offers compelling reasons to get up and go. With a total global audience of more than 8 million, the Travel + Leisure print portfolio includes the US flagship and five international editions in Mexico, Turkey, China, India/South Asia and Southeast Asia. The US edition of T+L, which launched in 1971, has an authoritative website, TravelandLeisure.com, and an extensive social media following of more than 5 million. Travel + Leisure, a Time Inc. brand, also encompasses newsletters, clubs, retail stores, and media collaborations.

About BLACK TOMATO

Black Tomato is a US- and UK-based award-winning, luxury, bespoke travel company that delivers imaginative and cutting-edge travel experiences around the world. It creates inspiring itineraries in up-and-coming and remote destinations, recommends the best design hotels and uses its “fixers” to give clients the inside track wherever they are. The company has been recognized for its work through prestigious awards, such as Cool Brands Listed in 2013 and 2014, and has been included on Travel + Leisure’s A List of 2014’s and 2015’s Top Travel Agents and more. For more information, please visit http://www.blacktomato.com.

About Time Inc.

Time Inc. (NYSE:TIME) is one of the world's leading media companies, with a monthly global print audience of over 120 million and worldwide digital properties that attract more than 140 million visitors each month, including over 60 websites. Our influential brands include People, Sports Illustrated, InStyle, Time, Real Simple, Southern Living, Entertainment Weekly, Travel + Leisure, Cooking Light, Fortune and Food & Wine, as well as more than 50 diverse titles in the United Kingdom such as Decanter, Horse & Hound and Wallpaper*. Time Inc. is home to celebrated franchises and events including the Fortune 500, Time 100, People’s Sexiest Man Alive, Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year, the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, the Essence Festival and the biennial Fortune Global Forum. Hundreds of thousands of people attend our live media events every year. We also provide content marketing, targeted local print and digital advertising programs, branded book publishing and marketing and support services, including subscription sales services for magazines and other products, retail distribution and marketing services and customer service and fulfillment services, for ourselves and third-party clients, including other magazine publishers.

Contacts

TRAVEL + LEISURE Media:
Scott Novak, 212-522-2687
scott.novak@timeinc.com
or
Liz Marsh, 212-522-0941
elizabeth.marsh@timeinc.com

Contacts

TRAVEL + LEISURE Media:
Scott Novak, 212-522-2687
scott.novak@timeinc.com
or
Liz Marsh, 212-522-0941
elizabeth.marsh@timeinc.com