TravelMail hits big...so far

It was not without some trepidation that I ventured into the private lair of the Daily Mail on Tuesday night to celebrate the official launch of the paper's travel website, TravelMail.

As many readers will know, the Daily Mail was mildly perturbed when Travolution spoiled the fanfare by publishing screen shots of the site days before the "official" launch party.

A bit naughty??? Perhaps. But come on folks, the Mail is not exactly known for holding fire when handed a golden opportunity to scupper someone's else plans.

(Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.)

Whatever your views on the "voice of Middle England" tabloid, the guys and gals responsible for TravelMail deserve a pat on the back.

The site is well designed and user-friendly, and, as of Tuesday evening, had attracted 7,000 visitors.

(Not too shabby for its first full day of operations.)

I have yet to find any major flaws with the TravelMail site itself, but I do question why the link doesn't hold a more prominent place on the Daily Mail homepage.

All in all, it was worth attending the party and, thankfully, the Daily Mail folk were quite sporting about getting scooped on one of their biggest stories of the year.

But the best part of the night came when I won a case of Dom Perignon. (Yep, an entire case.)

I would've been happy with a couple of glasses of the cheap stuff they were pouring at the party (well, cheap by comparison) , but I'm not complaining.

And just so no one can accuse me of accepting bribes, I've already informed Travolution's editor, Kevin May and TravelMail publisher, Toby Kesterton that I have nothing but charitable intentions (honest).

Tricia Holly Davis, chief writer, Travolution

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