From left to right: Michael Johnson, President, Ensemble; Camille Olivere, Chief Sales Officer, Globus; Shawn Tubman, SVP Regent Seven Seas Cruises; and Shahla Lalani, SVP, Marketing, Ensemble. (Photo Credit: Adam Monastero, Ensemble.)
Ensemble, the network of boutique travel advisors, has
announced the launch of RangeTravel.com,
a “dynamic” digital platform that will serve as a trusted travel source and a”
vibrant content hub” for travelers and advisors. The site will function as an
online extension of Range magazine, offering the magazine's content and exclusive
digital content. The quarterly print magazine was launched in 2023.
At an event in New York, Michael Johnson, president, told
TravelPulse that the website was “another step in the new Ensemble” and a way
to “engage and inspire” travelers. Ensemble had been cooperatively owned by advisor
members until it was purchased by private interests in June of 2022.
RangeTravel.com features travel tips, destination
information, insights into emerging trends, advice from travel advisors,
curated travel guides and immersive storytelling from Range’s portfolio of
print magazines. The website will also be introducing a Find an Advisor
section to connect travelers with Ensemble advisors to help them plan their
vacations. The feature will match travelers with advisors who specialize in the
interests and destinations they've specified.
Shahla Lalani, senior vice president of marketing at
Ensemble, said she hoped the travel guides would be "the go-to source"
for planning trips. She said there are now 17 destination guides, with more to
come.
Lalani told TravelPulse that Ensemble will be driving
consumer traffic to the website with the goal of obtaining potential leads for
member advisors. She said the site will be “SEO rich.” Overall, she said, RangeTravel.com
will aim to maintain the standards set by Ensemble for its advisors so that
users enjoy a “consistent end-to-end experience.”
Ensemble now has three print publications: Range, the quarterly
magazine; the three-times yearly Range Best, which focuses on partner offerings;
and an annual directory that showcases the world’s best hotel, cruises and land
products.
Launched in January 2023 as part of a comprehensive Ensemble
rebranding initiative, Range’s mission, according to the company, has remained
to ignite travelers' wanderlust with innovative editorial content. The magazine
offers insider insights, helping travelers discover new destinations and fresh
ways to see familiar places, all with the assistance of their
Ensemble-affiliated travel advisor.
Johnson said that since its launch, Range magazine has gone
from being “a program into a passion” for the network. He said that the company
will continue to “feel it out”: as far as the directions the website will take,
including the lead generation elements. “We try to everything thoughtfully,” he
said.
In keeping with its goal to put members' agencies and brands
front and center, Ensemble's print publications are customizable so that
members can align with their unique branding and client engagement strategies.
The magazine is also available in a bilingual French version known as
Départ.
Scott Kertes, who owns Vacations by Design in Westbury, New
York and attended the event, said the magazine has been helpful in creating “an
impression and an image” for his agency among clients. He sends it to 300
“handpicked” clients.
With the launch of the website, Kertes said he is thinking
of letting Ensemble do more of the agency’s marketing as it develops more tools
like RangeTravel.com. Kertes has been an Ensemble member for 27 years.
According to Lalani, Range magazine has won multiple awards,
including being honored by the North American Travel Journalists Association in
2024 as one of the top three travel magazines, alongside Travel + Leisure and
Condé Nast Traveler. Range also boasts two Gold Travel Weekly Magellan Awards
and a first-place accolade in the 2023-2024 Society of American Travel Writers
(SATW) Foundation Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition.
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