CNBC AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL ANNOUNCE A US$5 MILLION PARTNERSHIP WITH WTTC
Channels Join Forces to Become Exclusive Broadcast Media Partners of the Travel & Tourism Business Leaders’ Group
London, 14 December 2009: The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) today announced a US$5 million multi-platform global partnership with CNBC, the world’s leading business and financial news channel, and National Geographic Channel, the world’s leading provider of factual entertainment, with Sky News, Europe’s leading breaking news channel.

CNBC, National Geographic Channel and Sky News have been appointed official WTTC broadcast partners for the next three years.
The agreement calls for both channels to provide commercial airtime, online marketing and direct engagement in a global campaign to help promote awareness of the economic and social importance of the Travel & Tourism industry worldwide.
CNBC will target its audience of CEOs, senior business leaders and government officials via its global network that spans the EMEA, USA and Asia Pacific regions, to underscore the Travel & Tourism industry’s contribution to the global economy and WTTC’s Global Travel & Tourism Summit, taking place next year in Beijing (25-27 May).
Alongside CNBC’s airtime campaign, the partnership includes advertising in CNBC Business magazine and online at CNBC.com worldwide. CNBC’s database of CEOs and senior business leaders will also be targeted with an email marketing campaign highlighting key WTTC initiatives and events.National Geographic Channel will provide commercial airtime to promote the Global Summit and WTTC’s Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, profiling vignettes of the winners to its discerning viewers around the world. Ads will also air on Sky News in Europe and be streamed online on National Geographic Channel websites and on its dedicated Travel & Tourism portal.
The channel will also be involved in the Global Travel & Tourism Summit, filming debates and networking events, and will undertake an email marketing campaign to its Viewers Club database in the UK and Asia.
“WTTC is extremely pleased to have both CNBC and National Geographic Channel as our broadcast partners” said Jean-Claude Baumgarten, President and CEO of WTTC. “The combined reach of both channels enables us to raise awareness of Travel & Tourism’s contribution to national economies around the world.
“Together they'll provide year-round exposure for WTTC and highly targeted marketing campaigns to their own audiences, which will drive discussion and debate to raise awareness of the importance of Travel & Tourism as one of the world's largest industries, employing 220 million people and generating over 9.4% of global GDP.”
Paul Maraviglia, Vice President Sales EMEA at CNBC said: "We are delighted that the World Travel & Tourism Council has chosen a multi-platform, three-year partnership with CNBC. The Travel & Tourism industry is an important sector for us and we are eager to work with WTTC, not only to reinforce the important role that the industry plays in today’s economy, but also to help its Members communicate their message to our influential senior business leader audience.”
Deborah Armstrong, Senior VP Sales & Partnership Marketing at National Geographic Channel & Sky News, said: “National Geographic Channel is delighted to be working with WTTC to build awareness of the importance of the travel industry. With global reach and local programming feeds, NGC provides a ‘window on our world’, inspiring, informing and engaging our viewers with the key challenges shaping our planet. Sky News, as Europe’s most watched news channel, is dedicated to bringing viewers the news as it happens, anywhere around the world, and will provide WTTC with the opportunity to target its message to key influentials across the region.”- ENDS -
For further information, please contact:Sally Payne and Richard Lambert, Braben: +44 (0)20 7566 2990 sally@braben.co.uk / richardl@braben.co.uk
About WTTCThe World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the business leaders' forum for the Travel & Tourism industry, working with governments and other stakeholders to raise awareness of the importance of one of the world's largest generators of wealth and employment. With Chairs and Chief Executives of the world's 100 foremost Travel & Tourism companies as its Members, WTTC has a unique mandate and overview on all matters related to Travel & Tourism. For more information about WTTC please visit www.wttc.orgFor more information please contact: Anja Eckervogt, Tel: +44 (0)20 7481 8007, E-mail: anja.eckervogt@wttc.org
About CNBC in EMEACNBC, First in Business worldwide, is the leading global broadcaster of live business and financial news and information, reporting directly from the major financial markets around the globe, with three regional networks in Asia, EMEA and the US. In EMEA, CNBC is the only real-time, pan-regional business and financial news network dedicated to CEOs, senior corporate executives, the financial services industry and investors. The channel is available in approximately 110 million homes, 1,400 banks and financial institutions and leading hotels across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. CNBC is a division of NBC Universal, the media arm of the General Electric Company (GE).
About National Geographic Channels InternationalNational Geographic Channels International (NGCI) invites viewers to re-think the way they see television - and the world - with smart, innovative programming. A business enterprise owned by National Geographic Television (NGT) and FOX Entertainment Group, NGCI contributes to the National Geographic Society's commitment to exploration, conservation and education through its linear and non-linear pay-TV channels. Globally, National Geographic Channel is available in more than 315 million homes (including NGC U.S.) in 166 countries and 34 languages. Since 1888 National Geographic has explored and celebrated the Earth and is a leader in developing initiatives that support innovative solutions to issues of global concern such as the National Geographic Geo-tourism Charter.
About Sky NewsSince its launch in 1989, Sky News has established itself as a formidable and innovative force in the world of news broadcasting. It now provides news to around 145 million people in 36 countries in Europe alone, with distribution across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Valued for fairness, balance and journalistic objectivity by both viewers and regulators, the award-winning channel has also earned a reputation for the speed of its 24-hour coverage and flexibility in reporting live news – first. In addition to its status as one of Europe's leading 24 hour news channels, skynews.com is one of the fastest growing websites on the continent and reaches way beyond its average eight and half million monthly unique users. It serves text and video to Britain’s commercial radio websites, to giant animating billboards in all major railway stations in the UK seen by 56 million commuters a fortnight, to passengers on Virgin Atlantic flights, and more than 500,000 iPhone users via the most downloaded news application in the UK.