London (Sept 19, 2013). - Publishing and Database company Real Response Media (RRM) have announced
the acquisition of Europe’s leading cruise publication, World of Cruising magazine, from independent operator Robin Maclear
of Sussex-based The Cruise Line Ltd. The change of hands follows a prolonged
steady growth period for the magazine, which is Europe’s leading cruise
publication, having been founded in 1998. Maclear has sold the controlling
interest to RRM, and they will continue to develop the magazine’s growth along
international lines.
Managing Director Chris Pitchford says:
“This is an opportunity to take an existing, well-established niche publication
and take it to the next level. There continues to be huge and consistent growth
in the cruise market, and no publication has yet fully captured that readership
and growth potential. We have significant plans to take the magazine’s existing
high-quality style and extend it to that market in a number of different ways
that should be very exciting both for our current readers and the world of
cruising in general.”
Pitchford will be partnered by RRM
Director Matthew Underhill, who is also Managing Director of Event Live Media,
which effectively gives the company both a contract and exhibition publishing
arm as well as a magazine publishing business.
In the past 15 years, World of Cruising has become a major
authority on all cruise-related matters, including helping to launch new lines
such as Oceania Cruises in the UK and introduce a variety of niche luxury and
adventure cruise companies. The magazine has reviewed hundreds of ships and
explored destinations from the Amazon to the Zambezi. Columns such as The
Admiral have achieved a cult following, while those of Captain Greybeard, The
Cruise Guy and Cruise Radio have found a following in the US as well as
Britain. The popular online version of the magazine is read from the US to
Australia and it has also been published in China, the first cruise publication
there.
Says Robin Maclear: “The sale to Real Response Media comes at an
opportune time in cruise development and will allow World of Cruising to become the fully independent voice
of cruising
worldwide. It has been a pleasure to work with our editor, Simon Veness,
and an excellent team of journalists. All of us will continue to play our
part in the magazine’s future growth as well.”
The Autumn edition of the magazine
has just been published (www.worldofcruising.co.uk) and
the first edition under RRM’s leadership will be the Winter issue, publishing
in January.
Contacts: For Real Response Media, contact Chris Pitchford on
020 8444 6045 or email chris.pitchford@realresponsemedia.com. For
Robin Maclear, call 0870 442 6933 or email robin@cruiseline.co.uk.
