"Truth in Travel"

Conde Nast Traveler is a high-quality travel and lifestyles magazine aimed at upscale experienced travelers. The magazine calls itself "An insider's guide to the outside world."The covers of Conde Nast Traveler lure readers with gorgeous photographs of exotic locales, sunny beaches, and European cities and byways. Inside, readers find stunning photography, maps, tips and well-written articles on exotic first-class vacation destinations. Conde Nast Traveler aims to keep readers abreast on the latest news, bargain travel deals, and the most interesting tourist destinations available. In addition to serving up plenty of practical advice, the magazine also scours the globe to present locales that are lesser-known yet possess something unique to offer.

Conde Nast Traveler's's founding principle of "Truth in Travel"dictates that its writers travel anonymously and pay their own way, thus assuring their credibility and independence from the travel industry. The writers experience travel the way everyone else does, both the good and bad, and record their impressions honestly and fairly. Although the magazine is mainly targeted at recreation travel, it also targets business travelers. In addition to writing about various exotic locales to help readers decide on their destinations, Traveler also offers informative features that explore regional culture, transportation, and cuisine, highlighting amusing diversions unique to each place. The focus is almost always on destinations that are quite opulent; starving students looking to travel across Europe on $15 a day should look elsewhere.

"Regular Attractions"

Each issue of Conde Nast Traveler's takes the reader on a journey around the world, the experience divided into several features plus four main sections:

Departments
Word of Mouth
Stop Press
Places & People

These main categories in turn include several other subsections to provide further advice and information.

Features: Conde Nast Traveler typically offers about a half dozen longer stories in each issue that provide in-depth coverage of noteworthy tourist destinations around the globe, from the perspective of enthusiastic, experienced professional travelers. Discussion of their destinations-both well known and off the beaten-path-often cover diverse topics, ranging from tourist attractions to cultural and political issues.

Departments: This is the name assigned to several of the magazine's regular monthly offerings. These include the editor's letter, which usually discusses one of the issue's cover stories, as well as a reader's question and answer section. Within Departments is also found a section where the issue's contributors offer brief introductions to their adventures. The Airmail section publishes letters sent from readers pertaining to past articles, and a Q&A section in which readers can submit pressing questions.

Word of Mouth: This section highlights exciting new places to visit, as well as the hottest restaurants, hotels, spas, and the latest hot spots for nightlife and shopping in popular cities such as New York, South Beach, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. You'll also find tips on where to go, how to get there, where to stay, what to wear, what the weather is like, and how to prepare for your visit. Other topics often covered include travel books, beauty products, performing arts, fashion wear and fashion shows, and unusual attractions like theme parks. Also located within this section is Deals of The Month, divulging the best prices at the hottest places.

Stop Press: This is a travel news section that covers such subjects as lodging and transportation issues. This section also includes the monthly Ombudsman, which offers free assistance to travelers who have grievances with the travel industry (such as car rental companies, airlines, hotels/resorts, cruise lines, travel agents/tour companies, and insurance companies). Readers must include documentation and copies of correspondence. The ombudsman expects that travelers have already tried unsuccessfully to settle their dispute independently. Most of the time, a fair settlement for everyone is reached. The Ombudsman column underscores just how many things can go wrong when a person travels. In addition, the Stop the Press section also includes the Perrin Report by editor Wendy Perrin, which deals with up-to-the minute travel information and tips.

Places & Prices: This section explores several different world destinations, providing details on lodging, dining, and touring, plus sources for further reading. Prices, phone numbers, and Web sites are included. The Places & People section serves as a follow-up on the feature destinations in the month's issue, with advice on the most attractive deals on accommodations, restaurants, and activities for the chosen locales.

Another regular attraction in Conde Nast is the monthly content called Where Are You? One lucky winner receives a cash prize for correctly identifying the mystery photograph. There is also a grand prize drawing for a trip chosen from all correct monthly entries. Finally, at the end of each issue is Room with a View. This section highlights hotel and resort rooms that offer the most scenic views. The room numbers are actually listed so that readers can request them specifically.

Written March 12, 2006 exclusively for MagsDirect.com. All right reserved.

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