Yeoh Siew Hoon previews a new travel and lifestyle website that will make its debut Monday; CNNGo is a born-and-made-in-Asia offering from the Turner Asia team.

On Monday (September 28), CNN International will launch CNNgo in Asia, a website that aims to enrich city experiences for both locals and travellers.

In development for the past seven months, the concept has been developed and executed from the ground up by the Turner Asia team based in Hong Kong – which means it is not an American product adapted for the Asian market but a born-and-made-in-Asia offering.

According to executive director, Kim Willis, CNNgo aims to "bring out the best a city has to offer and help locals and travellers alike have great experiences ".

She said, "The concept has evolved from when we started to now – we kept changing along the way and that was helped by us being in the market."

Financial crisis notwithstanding, the team thought it was the perfect opportunity to launch a travel and lifestyle product that would bring "local insights, global experiences" to both residents and visitors of cities in Asia.

"We travel a lot in Asia and we felt there was a need for deeper richer content that was vibrant and dynamic," she said.

Once launched, the site will be updated up to 60 times a day by its team of about 14 editors, including a city editor in each city. The launch covers six cities – Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tokyo, Singapore and Bangkok.

"This will ensure it is current to reflect the dynamic nature of these cities," said Willis.

At the time of concept, the team debated whether the content should be pitched at locals or travellers but decided that the two were intertwined and one fed the other.

"If you have content that only locals would know – like, there's this path down the road and there's this really good place to eat – travellers will follow. Today's travellers want to go where the locals go," she said.

A section called "City Pulse" will be open to User Generated Content but with a selective editorial strategy. The editors will draw up an editorial calendar and invite users to contribute along those themes.

"We will be doing fact checking and editing," said Willis.

Asked why they decided to go the selective UGC route, Willis said, "There are a lot of great sites out there where people can express themselves. Some of it are fascinating, some not so interesting. We want to provide the very best content for our audience.

"Our editorial calendar will be driven by what people are searching so it is relevant to their needs."

While the "local insights" strategy might put it in competition against local media which provide city information, Willis sees it as CNNgo playing a complementary role.

"A lot of local brands go a great job. We will push our audiences to them if they have great content. Our ‘Daily Hit List' will provide links to other media."

Willis did not wish to disclose the investment in the new website but said, "Like everyone else, we've been living in an economically conservative world. We have been creative with our resources. We don't have a pot of gold but we have enough."

Enough to make a go of it, it seems.

Yeoh Siew Hoon, one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, writes a regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry for 4Hoteliers.com.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her other writings can be found at www.thetransitcafe.com

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