Please! refrain from putting scantily clad women on your covers! There are plenty of other magazines we could subscribe to for that. As a family that subscribes, these type of covers are extremely off-putting and give me reason to consider canceling. The gorgeous scenery or exotic places or normally-dressed people in such places would be much more appreciated. Thank you.

Posted By Jennifer on December 8, 2008, 7:54 PM

The ocean cover has cleaner graphics. It highlights the beach. The Mexico cover is cluttered.

Posted By Sean Twomey on December 8, 2008, 10:04 PM

I agree that the cover with the woman in the dress looks cluttered. I like the beach one better. A woman in a bathing suit is appropriate for a beach scene. I am a woman and I don't find the cover inappropriate. No different than going to the beach. Besides, she comes across as very nice and quite normally dressed.

Posted By Irene on December 8, 2008, 11:09 PM

I had to vote for the Taco stand since that is more "Mexican" than the beach photo (Xcaret).

But I have to agree with Sean Twomey that the Taco stand is much more cluttered and could have communicated an bright budget vacation with less.

And finally I like the theme, the stress of travel is much less when you stay relatively close to home.

Posted By Iolaire McFadden on December 9, 2008, 9:20 AM

I much prefer beaches to taco stands...the beach cover is much less cluttered and easier to read.

Posted By geebell on December 9, 2008, 2:57 PM

The water picture looks like every magazine. You guys should be blazing your own trail...not trying to look like everyone else.

Posted By A. Reader on December 9, 2008, 5:00 PM

The taco stand concept with the woman in a sundress would be preferable to the generic beach scene, even if only to retain some local flavor in the shot. (It is MEXICO, after all, with a wonderful, vibrant culture all its own - utilise it!) The combination of colors and textures in this design, however, is visually chaotic. A simpler backdrop and slight rearranging of the set would have done wonders to make it more aesthetically appealing.

Posted By Mel on December 9, 2008, 6:31 PM

Cluttered? I like cluttered.

Posted By Rebecca Bramson on December 10, 2008, 7:04 AM

Of course the one on the left came to my house, but I think I prefer the one on the right a bit more (but it does feel a bit more like BT meets Domino...adding people to the mix always makes it more challenging). I don't envy the editors having to choose! No matter what you do you can't please everyone ;)

Good work either way!

Anne

Posted By Prêt à Voyager on December 11, 2008, 10:47 PM

I was actually really annoyed at the bikini cover when it arrived at my house. I don't need Budget Travel to make me feel bad about my abs--I subscribe to fashion magazines and Outdoor for that. Just give me great travel info, please. And thanks.

Posted By betty on December 15, 2008, 11:44 AM

I agree with those who said the bikini shot is generic, a bit gratuitous and more worthy of a fashion mag than Budget Travel. If the taco stand is too busy for people (and I didn't find it busy... I liked the colors), you could've gone with the shot of someone snorkeling in Cozumel from inside the magazine. That was the only shot that actually made me want to go to Mexico.

Posted By Chris on December 15, 2008, 12:21 PM

Actually, I like them both. One of the things I love best about Budget Travel's covers is the variety. They, like the rest of the magazine, are appealing, attractive and generally terrific!

Posted By Joe Routon on December 15, 2008, 12:29 PM

Did anyone who opposed the cover actually read the headline? 7 beachy getaways! Why would you put a taco stand on the cover? Oh I forgot.. When I think of a beachy getaways my first thought is I hope they have a good taco stand there!!!

Posted By jd on December 15, 2008, 12:32 PM

Enough with the anorexics in bandages, please. If the ocean cover is "cleaner", as stated by another reader here, then feature the ocean and that view sans Kate Moss clone.

Thank you.

Posted By Macbabe on December 15, 2008, 12:48 PM

After viewing 1000's of my own travel shots I really don't like clutter. I admit to shooting it too but not on a magazine cover.

Posted By Tony Brzenski on December 15, 2008, 12:53 PM

From a design standpoint, I thought the taco cover was too busy - too many shapes and colors in teh background. By contrast, the background on the bikini cover is not busy and features some nice blue water. To me, that's what makes the difference, not the choice of clothing for the model.

Posted By Junior on December 15, 2008, 12:59 PM

I like them both for different reasons, but I ended up voting for the Taco Stand. I find it interesting and intriguing, rather than cluttered. Makes you want to really explore the picture carefully. Plus, I like that it isn't a stereotypical travel mag photo, like the bikinin photo. And the Taco Stand is more in line with the theme of fun and interesting travel on a budget. Having said all that, I will add that, as a woman, I don't find this particular bikini photo offensive at all. That particular style of bikini and the model's pose is not gratuitously oversexed.

Posted By Kristi on December 15, 2008, 1:02 PM

I agree - the one with the bikini made me want to travel to that beach! A taco stand... not so much.. I am a woman and I don't feel like the cover was done gratuitously or in poor taste! I think it was nice of BT to break the mold and try something new!

Posted By Siera on December 15, 2008, 1:11 PM

Is Jennifer serious? The woman on the cover is wearing a bikini and one that is not all that skimpy. Jennifer subscribes to a magazine about travel but I am guessing that she doesn't take her family to the beach (certainly not ones in Brazil, Greece, France or heck even some parts of the US).

I preferred the tac stand cover as well but because I liked the background and the composition more than the other.

Posted By Jodi on December 15, 2008, 1:21 PM

I like the one with the woman better.(yes even though she is in a bikini!) It's the one that came to my house too and I immediatley wanted to look at the magazine because the water is beautiful and it grabbed my attention, I didn't really focus on the bikini.

The taco stand doesn't really make me want to go to Mexico. It looks like it could be in any backyard and one of the things I love about Budget Travel is the beautiful covers that make you want to visit the area.

And by the way, I'm 40 lbs over weight and wouldn't be caught dead in a bikini, but that's not the model's fault.

Posted By Reigna on December 15, 2008, 2:44 PM

The people who are freaked out by bikini-clad women should probably work on their mental issues before traveling... they are probably monstrously annoying in every interaction others are forced to endure.

(Wow, there are women! they have bodies! how horrible, my children should NOT KNOW THAT!!!)

I like the ocean cover for the simpler composition, it's eyecatching with an abstract (water) pattern over much of the cover, which lets you read the text without either being "blank" or cluttered in those areas.

Posted By omars on December 15, 2008, 2:45 PM

I, too, am tired of all the travel mag covers with bikini-clad models.

I wonder how many of those that defend the practice and claim not to be sexist would react to a cover with a hunky-looking guy wearing only a Speedo? (It would be equally appropriate, or inappropriate, in my view. The fact that there aren't an equal number of women and men gracing the magazine's covers seems like defacto sexism to me.)

For the record, I like the taco truck cover better, it seems more authentic and less gratuitous, though I agree that the composition is poor and it looks too cluttered.

Posted By David on December 15, 2008, 4:08 PM

the cover with a lady at a table is too cluttered

Posted By warren on December 15, 2008, 5:28 PM

The beach cover came to my house, but I was actually so irritated at the (skinny, white chick) cover that I tossed the magazine in a rack and haven't read it yet. The taco stand cover tells a story, looks like a vacation I'd want to take and feels more connected to the place (Mexico). The beach cover is very generic. I have no problems with semi-nudity but I am very bored with painfully thin white women in nondescript locations. I'd love to see more size/ethnicity/race diversity on your covers...or at least more landscapes.

Thanks for asking for our feedback!

Posted By Shana on December 15, 2008, 6:48 PM

I voted for the "bikini" cover based on graphic design considerations. The "taco stand" cover is way too visually dissonant to gather much more than a cursory review - the message is submerged in the wash of competing patterns, colors and detail. The same focused design and layout principles used in the "bikini" cover would have made the "taco stand" cover work equally as well.

Posted By David Coffman on December 15, 2008, 7:08 PM

Have you ever gone to a beach and not seen a bikini? If you grew up in Europe it would only have bikini bottoms, if that. Stop being such a prude!

Posted By kevin on December 15, 2008, 7:37 PM

I received the magazine with the cover on the left and I voted for it because it was less cluttered than the other side and was more in line with a Mexico-beach theme. The model was certainly not dressed inappropriately or scantily-clad. I am a subscriber because of the content of the mag & covers are of little importance to me.

Posted By Michael on December 15, 2008, 9:18 PM

I chose the taco stand because the beach shot looks like all beach shots. It could be anywhere. At least, the taco stand seems to indicate what I want from Budget Travel. How to get the most travel and local color for my buck, I really miss the Frommer dollars a day guides. I don't see them anymore.

Posted By Gayle A Vancil on December 15, 2008, 10:25 PM

Actually neither of these covers does much for me... I find the woman in the water to look almost like a tourist's photo of someone's wife, except that she doesn't seem too representative of an "every woman". The other shot is not terribly appealing either. What happened to photos of places that are lovely, and make you want to be there ?? I prefer the "magazine with a view"... And it may sound a bit paranoid, but if you must start including people, then a lot of wmen really don't want a travel magazine to turn into something where there has to be a pretty thin white woman on the cover -- why not go for someone who looks more like a local-- welcoming you to his/her home?

Posted By KB on December 16, 2008, 3:11 PM

What I find attractive is the inviting warm water at a time of year when that sort of thing is only a dream in chilly New England. I remember as a kid growing up in Boston looking out on snow banks from the front window, while the Rose Bowl Parade was on TV. It was hard for me to believe Pasadena was actually in the same country!

Posted By Dan B on December 17, 2008, 2:28 PM

Actually, neither. The focus of both covers is on the woman but Budget Travel is supposed to be about travel. I'd rather see a cover that conveys a sense of Place rather than a generic Person. If you insist on featuring people on the cover, how about a wizened old shaman or a Bedouin riding a camel? Locals sipping tea in a souk or shopping in a colorful produce market? Or how about a dramatic landscape in Bhutan or along the Yangtze?

I realize that "sex sells" but you should use your covers to focus on travel and adventure, to stimulate a desire to see new places. That's what makes Budget Travel special.

Posted By birdsnest88 on December 18, 2008, 9:50 AM

I love "Taco"! It's fun and fresh and appealing. I think it's a unique cover for a travel magazine. The colors pop and draw me in. Plus, having been to Mexico, this is easily a sight you would see there and one of my big appeals for traveling there. It totally conveys that laid back and lazy attitude with cheap, but delicious, tacos and cervezas by the side of the road or near the beach! Nothing is more relaxing or perfect then that.

That said, I think the bikini cover is an equally good cover. But, I'm really confused how this could at all be considered "gratuitous" as some folks seem to be implying? The bikini is well-covering and the model, while skinny, is by no means anorexic or unhealthy.

Posted By Audrey on December 18, 2008, 5:34 PM

Really not a fair comparison. A clean, uncluttered cover with an unacceptable bikini-clad woman or a very cluttered, hard to read cover with an appropriately-clad woman. I chose the "clean" cover, but would prefer it with a different model. Better yet, no model.

Posted By S Evans on December 20, 2008, 6:42 PM

I like the cover with the young woman and the water background...it just grabbed my eye more. The other cover seemed a bit too "busy". If people don't like bathing suits, do the rest of us a favor and stay away from any pool,sauna, or beach as these are the way suits are sold & viewed. When people visit/vacation somewhere they want to go to a place that seems inviting & cordial...this young woman is appealing with her friendly smile w/o being too sexy. The cover invites you to find out more about Mexico and does a good job at enticing the reader-to-be.

Posted By Guard Dog on December 21, 2008, 3:06 PM

Why not start putting more ethnic people on the covers? Yeah, people of color actually do travel.

Posted By gsutiger2 on December 22, 2008, 9:54 AM

I got the beach covered mag. Didn't even think about the woman. But, did like her swim suit. She isn't too skinny. She is nicely covered in an appropriate suit. Too make the skeptics happy, next time just use a couple on the beach, maybe hand in hand, looking at each other, smiling. But, i do have to say, i prefer the covers with just scenery from other locales. When people are on the cover, i immediately look at what they are wearing, which shouldn't be the eye catcher.

Posted By marianda on December 26, 2008, 11:43 AM

they are both strong.
and feature different aspects of mexico.

Posted By toddh on January 1, 2009, 8:28 PM

I prefer the blue cover- I love the color of the ocean, love the girl's smile. Her physique may be more "suitable" for the fashion magazine, but her vibe and her attitude is more lifestyle and perfect for Budget Living. I think that photographer and the magazine nailed it! - Sexy girls love smart choices too!

Posted By bisa on January 1, 2009, 8:42 PM

I liked the bathing suit cover so much that I want to buy the suit. Can you please tell me the brand. I searched the issue and called Budget travel and have not gotten anywhere.
Thanks

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Realy good work cheers mate!

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