After 25 years at the helm of Travel Weekly as editor in chief, Northstar executive vice president/editorial director Arnie Weissmann will step aside from overseeing daily editorial operations but will continue traveling and contributing his column and other writing to the brand. (Travel Weekly is a sister publication of TravelAge West.)
Weissmann, who prior to taking on the editorship had co-founded Weissmann Travel Reports (now incorporated in the Northstar product travel42) and had served as a group publisher and senior advisor for business development for Northstar, will continue to represent Travel Weekly and Northstar in the industry and will serve in an advisory role within Northstar. His new title will be Explorer at Large for Northstar.
“I wanted to give a new generation of leadership the opportunity to bring Travel Weekly forward while also continuing to make meaningful contributions to the industry myself,” Weissmann said. “This new structure accomplishes both goals.”
Johanna Jainchill, currently news editor at Travel Weekly, will be promoted to the role of editor in chief, and current Travel Weekly managing editor Rebecca Tobin will be promoted to the role of director, editorial strategy and operations, Travel Weekly.
In addition, Ken Shapiro has been promoted to the role of senior vice president, content director of the Retail Group. Shapiro, who currently oversees the content teams at Northstar brands TravelAge West, TravelPulse, TravelPulse Canada, AGENTatHOME and travel42, will add oversight of Travel Weekly to his portfolio. Shapiro has more than 20 years’ experience working in travel trade journalism and content and is the former editor in chief of TravelAge West.
“I’m excited to work with the award-winning journalists at Travel Weekly,” Shapiro said. “They have earned the respect of the entire travel industry and I’m eager to support them as they continue to deliver the thoughtful, impactful reporting that our audience expects.”
“The brands in the Northstar retail travel portfolio connect hundreds of thousands of travel professionals each day who rely on our content to build their businesses, find partners and better serve travelers,” said Bob Sullivan, chief commercial officer/president of Northstar Travel Group. “Ken’s proven leadership and tremendous respect from the market will help ensure each of the brands maintains strong voices and engagement in the vibrant travel agency community. His impact on his teams and his incredible ability to grow and develop talent have proven to be a driving force and an inspiration to do great work.”
