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Diversification Key to Survival, Says Explorer

DUBAI - Diversification is the mantra of survival that a number of publishing firms, including Dubai-based Explorer, are adopting to withstand the current economic downturn.

The 14-year-old company, which some readers consider the emirate’s equivalent of the better-known Lonely Planet travel guide, has trained its sights on bringing out short-vacation travel guidebooks and bi-monthly magazines.

Explorer is reacting to a harsher reality in which tourists have postponed their travel plans worldwide.

From contract publishing to online content, the company, which prints about 35,000 Dubai “Explorer” guides annually, is considering different revenue models in an industry that depends heavily on advertisements for its survival, says Claire England, Explorer’s Associate Publisher.

“We are now hit with a financial crisis, and we have to react to that,” said England, speaking on the sidelines of a forum for senior company executives from around the globe.

“We have a lot of products that we still need to market around the world. So we have to realise that cash is king and we need liquidity. The best way to secure liquidity is to look at the market we are in. So we started trying other revenue streams,” she said, acknowledging a slow-down in travel publishing in the UAE and elsewhere. Explorer guides, which are available in about 33 countries, provide insights into living, visiting or working in each country.

Sales of the company’s tourist guides have dropped by 25 per cent this quarter compared to the same three months of last year, she said.

England blames the discontinuation of magazines and other signs of retrenchment in the industry to its dependence on advertising for most of its revenues.

Explorer, on the other hand, has developed other revenue streams. “We have the retail revenue with books selling in the market. While tourism may dip and there are less people coming, people here may now not have the capital to do a lot of travelling and so will travel internally” — within their home countries, said England, who described this stay-at-home trend as “‘stay-cations.”

Cashing in on this, Explorer in January launched a new book called Weekend Breaks that lists must-do experiences in the UAE and Oman for GCC residents. It also plans to launch a new bi-monthly book in April.

Meanwhile, the company is expanding online to extend its core business, allowing readers to access information via the Internet. Sponsored links help sustain the business as an alternative revenue model. This helps the company cut printing costs and keep other operating expenses low during the current financial downturn.

Explorer is also developing contract publishing to provide content to other companies.

· preeti@khaleejtimes.com