Fairfax General Magazines (FGM) and luxury lifestyle magazine publisher American Express Publishing Corporation have announced an agreement to launch Travel + Leisure magazine in the Australian market. The first issue is scheduled to be published in September 2005. Travel + Leisure will have a frequency of ten times per year, and will be sold to consumers through both subscriptions and newsagents. Total circulation is expected to top 60,000 copies per month. The cover price will be $6.95.

Announcing the new publishing venture, Fairfax General Magazines publisher Karim Temsamani said Fairfax General Magazines had identified Travel + Leisure as an excellent strategic publishing opportunity for the division.

Travel + Leisure is the world`s leading travel magazine that is dedicated to providing access to unique and authentic travel experiences, Mr.Temsamani said. It is a perfect fit for the Fairfax General Magazines readership and provides a great vehicle for cross-promotional initiatives with American Express. It will also extend the reach of FGM onto an important new contact platform. The alliance joins the editorial authenticity and brand power of Travel + Leisure with FGM`s considerable high quality lifestyle publishing in the Australian market.

Mark Stanich, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of American Express Publishing Corporation said, We are continually seeking ways to expand and constantly reinvigorate our strong franchises. Travel + Leisure is ideally suited to the Australian market where consumers value extraordinary travel experiences, where the advertising market is strongly developed, and where our luxury lifestyle magazines can aid in broader American Express customer communication efforts.

Alan Revell, Managing Director, Fairfax Commercial Division said, This venture with American Express Publishing is an exceptional opportunity for Fairfax to expand its presence in the magazine market and partner with American Express in Australia. Travel + Leisure is a very prestigious, award-winning international magazine and we are keen to replicate its success in Australia. With our magazine division`s strong performance over the last 2 years, we have been looking at different business opportunities that would allow us to expand our magazine publishing portfolio. We feel that we will now have a publishing powerhouse in this sector that will be exceptionally hard for competitors to match.

Lisa Hudson, Group Editor, Fairfax Magazines will oversee the editorial direction of Travel + Leisure Australia. An Editor will be appointed shortly.