BAJAN SUN MAGAZINE
DEC 2014
MACO, TOUTE BAGAI CELEBRATE
15 YEARS OF PUBLISHING
M
ACO - A leading Caribbean publishing
By 2008, TBP produced a staple of publications,
company stays the course with its expansion
including Destinations Magazine, one of the more
plans as it approaches a major milestone in the face of a
successful publications to date being churned out of the
global decline in the print publishing industry.
publishing house, along with architectural coffee table
With magazines disappearing, the Trinidad and Tobago
volumes and children's books.
-based Toute Bagai Publishing (TBP), along with its
Soodeen launched a Caribbean travel portal in 2010,
founder Neysha Soodeen, is celebrating its 15th year
promoting the best of the best Caribbean destinations,
anniversary with its flagship MACO Caribbean Living.
and pushing the company into a new but much needed
Launched in 1999, the magazine, the epitome of
digital space.
Caribbean lifestyle showcasing architecture, design, art,
It is a credit to Soodeen's perseverance that TBP has
food and travel, was the first Caribbean-produced
not folded like several other publishing houses across
publication to be retailed internationally, reaching 58
the globe.
countries and receiving numerous international design
"The publishing industry in the region has always been
and printing awards.
somewhat fickle, with magazines at the top of the
"In the 1990s, there simply weren't any publications
pyramid being the most vulnerable," she said.
showcasing Caribbean lifestyle in a manner which
"When I launched MACO, Caribbean advertisers were
international readers would find appealing. I wanted to
not used to spending that kind of money on one
showcase the sophisticated side of Caribbean living as
publication. I remember clients telling me that a page in
it seemed the world had an obscure perception of how
MACO equated to their annual budget for newsprint. It
we in the islands lived, ate and played," the Trinidad-
was therefore a learning experience and a successful
born publisher recalled.
accomplishment to now have a variety of different
While the first issue of MACO Caribbean Living is
magazines attracting advertisers from across many
similar to the present magazine 15 years later, the
different industries," she commented.
company has stuck to its tried and tested formula of
TBP produces numerous publications across the region
maintaining a professional product.
for companies such as Sandals Resorts International,
"The look and feel of the magazine are largely the
the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Investment and
same. However we have consistently updated and
Communications in Trinidad and Tobago, and the
upgraded our paper stock, and design style to keep up
Caribbean Export Development Agency.
with international trends," she reported.
For
further
information,
visit
www.macocaribbean.com.
152
PHOTO BY: CLYDE BARNETT
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