Venture buys into Holiday Asia title

<p>Singapore-based Venture Asia has acquired a majority stake in Asian </p><p>Bridge Media (ABM), the publisher of Holiday Asia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The purchase is part of Venture's plans to aggressively expand its </p><p>business to become the premier publisher of travel news and </p><p>information. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The acquisition will help create a dominant grouping of travel titles </p><p>that aspire to quality," ABM co-owner and Holiday Asia publisher Vijay </p><p>Verghese told MEDIA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The purchase comes after Mr Verghese recently parted company with Times </p><p>Publishing to run Holiday Asia under ABM. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This grouping of travel publications will also provide content to </p><p>support a website, he added. Taken altogether, the online and offline </p><p>offering will cater to readers' needs and tastes and it will allow for a </p><p>wider and more flexible range of packages for advertisers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Group chairman Dato Amin Shah said, "We plan to be the biggest and best </p><p>travel service provider in a short space of time." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Venture's other travel and trade titles consist of Tourism Asia, </p><p>TravelAsia, Meetings & Conventions Asia Pacific and SilkAir inflight </p><p>magazine, Silkwinds. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The group plans to expand to 10 titles this year by using the </p><p>acquisitions route. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Verghese said the ultimate goal would be to set up an e-business </p><p>platform. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This is currently under development and there could be a range of </p><p>activities such as putting content online and earning referral </p><p>commissions when consumers book a holiday package via our website. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Tourism is a multi-billion dollar industry in Asia and we want to </p><p>expand that pie and take a bite out of it," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, he said it was unlikely the group would go into the travel </p><p>agency business. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We don't want to be a travel agent. It's not our core competency, which </p><p>is about the dissemination of quality travel content." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>