South Africa Edition 2

THE MARKET
Getaway magazine conceived the leisure
publishing market in South Africa, creating the
template for this genre that remains the standardbearer
18 years later. Today, the magazine attracts
almost half a million readers on a monthly basis.
The editorial and ideas strike a chord with a
South African public in love with getting out of
the city and away from the stresses of urban life.
For them, Getaway is more than just a magazine,
and more than the strongest travel brand in South
Africa: It offers a lifestyle and defines a standard
of living.
Since its launch in April 1989, the Getaway
brand has grown to include books and brand
extensions: the DStv Getaway Show, the
Getaway Events division, Getaway Travel and
Getaway magazine’s website. It meets the needs
and requirements of an upmarket, educated and
sophisticated readership and attracts top-end
consumers, primarily between 35 and 49 years in
the upper 9 and 10 LSM groups.
As an established and credible magazine,
Getaway attracts advertisers who know they’re
getting an excellent return on their advertising
investment. It remains advertisers’ first choice
in the travel and outdoor market. According to
the All Media Product Survey (AMPS), the
magazine has a readership of almost 500,000,
with most living in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-
Natal and Gauteng. Add to these 21,000
monthly visitors to Getaway’s official website,
www.getawaytoafrica.com, and some 10,000 to
the DStv Getaway Show website.
Getaway remains the dominant player in
the English-medium travel and outdoor market
and anticipates substantial growth in emerging
markets, including the middle - and upperincome
black market, where English is the
language of choice for leisure, travel and business
communication.
In the period from November 2005 to
December 2006, the magazine’s turnover
exceeded R50 million.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Getaway has been described as the South African
publishing phenomenon of the 20th century. It
provided the first large platform for advertisers to
promote destinations and activities to an audience
interested in travel, nature and the outdoors. It
was also the first South African magazine to
explore African countries, in difficult conditions,
during the final years of apartheid.
In its 18 years the magazine has received no
fewer than 41 awards for editorial excellence,
among them four Mondi Awards, the highest
accolade for journalism.
In 2000, the magazine achieved a circulation
of 105,669 - a figure never reached by any other
English-medium title dealing with travel, outdoor
and adventure in Africa.
HISTORY
Getaway is published by Ramsay, Son & Parker,
which produces several other leading consumer
titles in South Africa and has been in the magazine
business since 1933. The company prides
itself on publishing quality titles on specialist
subjects aimed at niche audiences. Getaway
was the brainchild of the current chairman, Alan
Ramsay, who saw the need for a dedicated travel
magazine.
Finding readers for Getaway in the early years
required extensive research and promotion, this
effort paid off and the magazine quickly grew
to 50,000 sales each month. The big challenge
in the first five years was convincing enough
advertisers to invest in the readership and it took
the publication nearly five years to break even.
Almost 13,000 travel enthusiasts, though,
had enough interest in the title to subscribe to the
magazine before the first issue even rolled off the
press. Getaway clearly catered for a need in the
market, and has continued to do so ever since. It
was so successful that in 1992 the Getaway Show
was introduced, which, 15 years later, remains
the leading travel and outdoor consumer show in
South Africa.
In recent years a flood of new titles has
appeared on newsstands, among them the first
direct competitor to the magazine, but Getaway
remains the market leader in the English travel
category. It is the most iconic travel magazine
brand in the country and one of the most
recognised and trusted magazine titles among
consumers.
THE PRODUCT
Getaway readers have come to trust its honest,
credible, well-researched features and spectacular
photography, produced by a dedicated team of
passionate photojournalists. It is a glossy, maxiformat
consumer publication, its size showing to
best effect the award-winning, dynamic wildlife
and outdoor photography for which the magazine
is renowned. It averages about 230 pages an
issue, 100 of which are guaranteed editorial,
and is distributed throughout South Africa and
neighbouring African countries.
The success of the magazine has resulted
in several brand extensions, foremost of which
the award-winning DStv Getaway Show, which
takes place annually in spring in Johannesburg.
It has become a key marketplace for suppliers
of outdoor products and 4X4 vehicles and
accessories as well as travel, tourism and
adventure operators. The show is really a
three-dimensional representation of Getaway
magazine.
Exactly ten years after the magazine was
launched, it established an electronic presence
in the form of GetawaytoAfrica.com, its official
website. This is a comprehensive African travel
resource which provides over a thousand travel
features about 28 countries, information on