This week’s Spotlight Interview from Medianet is with Paul Chai. Paul recently started a new role as Managing Editor for the travel publication Luxury Escapes and has worked for some of Australia’s biggest media outlets.
Firstly, congratulations on your new role as Managing Editor at Luxury Escapes. Can you tell me a bit about your career progression in the travel and print publications space?
I have been a travel writer and editor for nearly 20 years. After working in London on non-travel titles like Variety and The Financial Times I returned to Australia to help launch Travel + Leisure Australia at Fairfax and then went freelance.
Around ten years ago, I moved to Singapore to edit Tigerair’s inflight magazine for Ink Singapore, then moved to Ink’s Melbourne office. For the past few years, I have been a freelance writer and editor for publications like Traveller, Time Out and Escape.
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
It is very hard to beat my gig at Moving Pictures in London, a small film industry publisher, where we used to travel to the world’s film festivals like Cannes, LA and even Moscow to produce daily magazines.
What is a commonly held belief about your job or the industry that you disagree with?
That when a writer or editor travels on a famil it is a “holiday”. They are a great opportunity, but a holiday is with family and friends.
What are the highlights of working with physical media and print publications in a time where the shift to digital platforms is so prevalent?
The luxury of time. When you print something there is no CTRL Z, so you tend to take a bit longer to think about the story, to check the copy and to make sure that everything is just so.
Where do you see yourself in the future, and where would you like your work to take you?
As sappy as it sounds, the current role is pretty much spot on. I love travel journalism and print so finding both those things at a time when digital is king I feel very fortunate. I would like any future role to continue to inspire people to get on that plane, boat, train or in that car.
Any upcoming work from you or Luxury Escapes we should keep an eye out for?
The Luxury Escapes content team has a wide range of exciting projects on the horizon from the relaunched magazine to the new season of the Luxury Escapes TV show, as well as a podcast.
And lastly, what are your content pitching preferences?
Best to get me on email, we have submission guidelines but we do get a lot of general “luxe guide to” pitches. The magazine is a luxury travel guide in itself so I am looking for pitches that are quite specific and original.
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