Pay up or miss out... please!

This time we really mean it. Honest!

If you want to see any trade magazine publisher cry just raise the subject of “paid subscriptions”.
What will start the tears flowing is the welling up of sheer frustration at the years of failed strategies to get New Zealand companies to pay for quality information specific to their chosen field. It is a frustration shared by publishers right across the specialist publishing spectrum.

The fact is that a good number of our magazines are sent out to the industry for free. For us here at Hospitality/Thirst the problem this creates was underscored by the experience at last week’s HospitalityNZ show at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland. It was, as usual, a terrific opportunity for us to get feedback from readers from all over the country and that was very positive; but as usual, it was disappointing to have so many of them tell us they were already subscribers because they were receiving the magazine virtually every month.

The problem created by this circumstance is twofold; the lack of realistic subscription revenue inhibits the size and scope of the magazine and means advertising rates have to be at a compensating level. In other words we would be able to publish an even better magazine and, perhaps, offer advertisers better discounts for multiple insertions.
So, from next month we will be rotating the distribution across our industry database. This would mean non-subscribers could expect to see Hospitality just one month in three as a maximum and this time we really mean it!

Obviously, our hope is that the improvements we have made to Hospitality and the 30 per cent discount we are offering will be encouragement enough to persuade you part with 70 of your tax-deductible dollars.
And of course, apart from getting the best in industry news, gossip and profiles you also could win the 51in Panasonic plasma TV. It’s easy, just return the reply paid card elsewhere in this issue.

Sincerely yours,

Chauncy Stark
Acting editor Hospitality

Don Kavanagh
Editor Thirst

What are your thoughts? Please comment below.