Northstar Travel Group, parent company of PhocusWire and PhocusWright, has acquired TravAlliancemedia.
The company is owner of well-known brands including TravelPulse, TravelPulse Canada, Agent at Home, Travel Agent Academy, Agent Studio and a portfolio of custom-content solutions, marketing services, and software and marketing tools for the retail travel community.
Northstar also acquired Buying Business Travel, from London-based Panacea Media.
“The addition of travAlliancemedia’s well-known brands serving the retail, home-based and independent travel advisor market complement Northstar’s leadership brands, including Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, serving the retail travel industry,” says Thomas Kemp, chairman and CEO of Northstar Travel Group.
“The acquisition provides Northstar with an unparalleled portfolio of marketing services, online media, events and marketing tools serving the travel advisor community and connecting travel suppliers and destinations to this audience,” Kemp says.
Mark Murphy, the founder and CEO of AravAlliancemedia, will become an advisor to the Northstar and TravAlliancemedia combination.
“We know the Northstar team and brands very well and believe this is a great combination of talent, complementary brands, and online services to better serve the travel advisor market,” Murphy said.
The TravAlliancemedia portfolio includes:
- TravelPulse: a leading online brand serving the travel advisor community in the U.S. with approximately one million monthly visitors. TravelPulse connects destinations, travel suppliers and travel advisors with real time information and marketing services.
- TravelPulse Canada, TravelPulse Quebec, and TravelPulse Mexico: The leading online information sites serving the Canadian and Mexican travel advisory communities.
- Agent at Home: The leading brand serving the home-based and independent travel advisor community with information, marketing services and events.
- Travel Agent Academy: The leading online education platform providing travel advisors with eLearning certification on travel destinations and suppliers.
- Agent Studio: A SaaS business that gives travel advisors the ability to build custom websites that also feature an integrated marketing platform. This enables travel advisors to connect and market their services to clients and prospects with offers, online information and news about the latest happenings in travel.
“The TravAlliancemedia portfolio is a perfect strategic fit with Northstar’s core information and marketing services brands serving the retail travel industry,” says Bob Sullivan, president of Northstar’s Travel Group.
“We are very excited about the growth opportunities in Canada, and we will work with [president and editor in chief of TravelPulse Canada] John Kirk, to determine what Northstar brands and products we may introduce in Canada.”
Buying Business Travel is a business-to-business brand in the U.K. serving the corporate travel industry, and its portfolio includes The Business Travel Awards, The BBT Business Travel Forums, BBT Editor’s Lunches and Buying Business Travel magazine.
Louis Magliaro, senior vice president and group publisher of Northstar’s BTN Group, says the Buying Business Travel brand "is an excellent strategic fit with Northstar’s Business Travel News, Travel Procurement and The Beat brands along with the recently acquired Business Travel Show in London."
Northstar has also acquired CAT Media, a U.K.-based media, marketing services and events business serving the global meetings and incentive industry.
The acquisition will provide Northstar with a marketing services business in the U.K. and Europe to complement its market-leading hosted buyer MICE industry exhibition, The Meetings Show, in London.
* Elements of this article originally appeared on Travel Weekly.