It has been announced that group travel trade magazine ‘GTO magazine’, the Group Travel Awards and the annual GO Travel Show, have been acquired by industry stalwarts, Chris Cheek and Jamie Cash.
The move comes as a result of the closure of Landor Travel Publications (LTP). Chairman and editorial director of LTP, Peter Stonham, has decided to step away from the group travel sector and work on other business ventures. Commenting on the news he said: “I’m pleased to pass group travel activities to Chris and Jamie as very suitable and knowledgeable custodians of these pioneering products. The Landor Travel Publications business will now be closed.”
Chris Cheek was one of the founder-directors of GTO magazine back in 1988, and was consultant editor for 20 years until May 2009, when he resigned to concentrate on other activities. Regular readers from those years will recall Chris’s columns on theatre and entertainment, the forerunners of the Make a Date section of the magazine.
Jamie Cash held a number of senior positions at GTO magazine for over 15 years, after joining as editor in May 1995. He helped to establish and then manage the Group Travel Awards, and took part in the whole range of LTP’s activities within the organiser community including its role in founding and then developing the GTOA (now AGTO, the Association of Group Travel Organisers).
Chris said: “I’ve always been very proud of the work we did in the early days of the magazine to help build a community for group organisers. I very much enjoyed my time writing for the magazine and meeting readers and members of the travel trade, and I’m glad of the chance to help take this all forward in the post-Covid age.”
Jamie said: “I’m delighted that Chris and I have been given the opportunity to take up the reins of GTO again, and I am really looking forward to connecting with old friends and making new ones within the world of group travel.”
It is understood that Jamie and Chris will be taking a little time to review the future of the magazine and its other activities, and will be making further announcements in the new year.
