Why The Nation and Other Magazines Look to Luxury Travel to Pay the Bills

Affinity travel is an under-recognized part of the luxury travel spectrum. Alumni associations, non-profit organizations and cultural institutions often sell travel as a way to cultivate donors and to raise money. Recently, affinity travel has been bleeding into the journalism arena, which itself has been bleeding cash for years.

Janet Moore, owner of affinity tour operator Distant Horizons, says it’s a logical business for certain publications to consider. “The tours add a much-needed revenue stream for special interest magazines that already have a ready-made audience–subscribers–for their programs,” says Moore. Additionally, reporters on staff can lend expertise, either on tour or pre-tour. Planners can work with reporters to open doors, given their strong connections in a country’s political, cultural and academic landscapes.

Teresa Stack is the former president of The Nation and founder of the publication’s educational travel programs. “Publishing is struggling in general,” says Stack. “Frankly, we largely developed the tour program to support the journalism. It’s not our number one source of revenue, but it’s a growing source.”

The Nation is the country’s oldest weekly magazine, debuting the year Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The left-leaning political and cultural magazine is certainly not the first media outlet to introduce tours in order to subsidize journalism. Several travel-related magazines, like National Geographic and AFAR, run tour programs. In 2014, the New York Times initiated its Times Journeys program. And later this month, the Los Angeles Times will unveil the details of its new Expeditions catalog.