It has been our privilege over the past 50 years to be part of an amazing industry that promotes worldwide travel with the benefits of inspiring understanding, improving tolerance, and promoting a better appreciation of the world we live in.
Beyond promoting the benefits and ideals of travel, Recommend was started to help the travel agent sell travel, and over the last five decades has provided content that travel professionals use to recommend the destinations and travel products most suited to their client’s travel objectives. Fifty years ago, we knew that matching travel agents’ clients to the right product or destination would be vital to their success—back then, today and in the future.
In the ever-changing landscape of the travel agent industry, there seems to be one constant—the need for information that helps the travel agent sell the world’s myriad destinations, and the ever-growing multifaceted travel products. That need was the editorial concept when Recommend was founded 50 years ago. It is still at the core of our philosophy today.
Today, Recommend’s editorial staff and contributors travel the world to bring indispensable, unique, engaging and timely information to help you effectively sell those destinations, resorts, hotels, cruises, and tours. Through its 50 years, Recommend’s goal has been to impart knowledge to the travel agent, because clients appreciate a knowledgeable travel agent, and it is that expertise that brings back clients time and time again.
And we’ve kept up with the changing times, growing from a monthly print edition covering the globe, to an online presence at Recommend.com, with up-to-the-minute content that’s available to you via e-newsletters, as well as mobile and tablet devices.
Our thanks to all the destinations and travel suppliers, past and present, that have used the Recommend brand to market throughout these 50 years. We pledge to continue to help you deliver your message in the best editorial and graphic environment.
HAL HERMAN
Chairman/Founding Editor
In the Beginning
With this editorial mission in mind, the concept for the publication was begun in 1967 by Hal Herman, who conceived and created Recommend Florida, dedicated to helping travel consultants throughout North America sell the state’s varied product. In 1983, its current President/Publisher/Editorial Director Laurel Herman expanded coverage to include the Caribbean; and in 1985, Recommend Worldwide debuted covering destinations around the globe. Since then, Recommend’s editors and contributing writers have been traveling the globe, writing insightful onsite features, and curating themed articles and relevant content—continuing the editorial mission of helping travel agents sell travel. Our editorial team has been, and continues to be, laser-focused on the diversity of our world—reporting on everything from the Caribbean’s stunning scenery and lush landscapes of Latin America, to North America’s multifaceted offerings and Europe’s extraordinary sightseeing opportunities, not to mention the magnificent cultures of Asia and Africa, and the growth of the cruise industry’s diverse product throughout the world. Recommend has been true to its mission statement, never wavering and consequently seeing the positive results that travel and tourism can have on destinations and suppliers.
Case in point: Recommend was recognized by the government of Costa Rica for the role that the publication played in increasing the country’s tourism numbers significantly, elevating a previously little known country to a powerhouse of sustainable tourism that today is very well-known and highly regarded amongst North American travel agents and tour operators. This is just one example of our expert voice over the years.
Enhanced and Changing Content
We have seen travel evolve from a purely leisurely pursuit where a couple of weeks lounging on an exotic beach may have sufficed, to one where travelers seek authentic, in-depth experiences, and are looking to immerse themselves in cultures that are different from their own. We have also witnessed travel diversify into numerous specializations; and Recommend has continuously encouraged that specialization among our travel agent readers, whether that be a geographic specialization or a specialization in a specific segment, including honeymoon, family, culinary, and historic and educational travel, to name a few. As today’s consumers become more knowledgeable and targeted in their travel wants, the role of an educated, knowledgeable and trusted travel agent has never been more important. Since it is impossible for a travel agent to travel to every destination around the globe, Recommend brings the world to the agent in a lively and engaging way.
Recommend is accomplishing our crucial role of helping travel agents sell travel by presenting content across many communication channels and devices in varying formats. Powerful design tools currently set the stage for how our content is consumed based on our readership’s preference. Whether in print, on a desktop, tablet or smart phone, as well as through our website, a webinar, an e-mail, social media or mobile application, Recommend’s technology implementations offer choice and convenience for our agent audience.
To that point, in this celebratory year, we have launched a newly designed recommend.com with new content sections based on readership feedback,
a responsive design, improved search functionality, and access to our education platform through its main menu.
Recommend’s education platform, edu.recommend.com, offers agents the opportunity to gain knowledge on destinations and suppliers through various agent specialist programs. And as technology evolves, the Recommend digital team continues to add new features to the education platform to make the experience more seamless and user-friendly for the travel professional.
What Does the Future Hold?
It is clear that technology will continue to enhance how we receive information, and more importantly, how that information is gathered and presented. What this means for us, and ultimately you, is a better understanding of your reading preferences and the ability to present content in more precise ways. Recommend is already working toward this future by utilizing “big data” storage techniques, processing, and extraction to display relevant content.
The Recommend team pledges to continue this journey of bringing the world to you, providing you with the very best content to keep you informed of travel trends around the globe. Partnering with brands that align with our own philosophy, we will carry on Recommend’s 50-year mission statement of “helping travel agents sell travel,” which is as relevant and important today as when this adventure began.
– Written by Laurel A. Herman, President/Publisher/Editorial Director;
Gary Herman, Executive Vice President/Chief Technology Officer;
and Terence K. Murphy, Associate Publisher
