<PAGE>

                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1

ADVANSTAR REALIGNS & INTEGRATES INTERNET ACTIVITIES
---------------------------------------------------

BOSTON - March 15, 2001 - Advanstar Communications Inc., a leading worldwide
business information company, announced plans to more tightly focus the
activities of the Company's internet subsidiary, Advanstar.com. These plans will
have the effect of more closely integrating many of the sales, marketing,
technology and operating functions of Advanstar.com with Advanstar
Communications, and the Company's core activities in publishing, tradeshows, and
marketing services. In addition, the Company will reduce the number of internet
products scheduled for introduction in 2001.

"For over a year, we have been heavily investing in the development of
innovative and exciting new internet products to extend the range of our
integrated market-focused product offerings. As we move from development to
implementation to product rollout, we concluded it would be better for our
customers and more efficient for the company to more fully integrate the sales
and marketing activities for these new products under the leadership of our
Advanstar Communications market teams," said Robert Krakoff, Chairman and CEO of
Advanstar.

Jean-Marc Levy, President and CEO of Advanstar.com added, "Advanstar's great
potential on the Web is drawn from the core strength of Advanstar Communications
and its existing content, customer base and brands, and the promotional platform
it provides to serve our customers and help grow their businesses. At the same
time, Advanstar's central operational efficiency can be applied to
Advanstar.com's operations, fulfillment, and customer service needs, providing
better service to our internet customer base.""

Mr. Krakoff added, "The internet is an important and growing part of our
customers marketing mix, and thus will become an increasingly important part of
our integrated product offerings. We have invested considerable time, effort and
money to build solutions that are effective marketing vehicles for our customers
and provide useful information and tools for our audiences. These efforts and
investments will continue."

About Advanstar Communications Inc.
-----------------------------------

Advanstar Communications Inc. is a worldwide business information company
serving specialized markets with high-quality information resources and
integrated marketing solutions. Advanstar has 106 top business and professional
publications, 108 exhibitions and conferences, 79 Web sites, and a wide range of
direct marketing, database and reference products and services. Advanstar serves
targeted market sectors in such industries as telecommunications, CRM/call
center, e-commerce, retail, travel, hospitality, beauty, fashion, healthcare,
pharmaceutical, manufacturing and processing. The company has more than 1,400
employees and currently operates from multiple offices North America, Latin
America, Europe and Asia. For more information on Advanstar Communications,
visit www.advanstar.com.
      -----------------

About Advanstar.com and Hive4(TM) brands
----------------------------------------

Advanstar.com, based in New York, is the Internet sister company to Advanstar
Communications Inc. Advanstar.com's mission is to bring buyers and sellers
together online in the markets already served by Advanstar Communications. By
integrating content, business and transaction-enabling services and
relationships, the Hive4(TM) branded web communities provide highly personalized
environments that facilitate customer interaction. For more information on
Hive4, visit www.Hive4.com.
             -------------
                                     # # #
<PAGE>

CONTACT:           Michelle Mitchell
                   Corporate Marketing Manager
                   Advanstar Communications
                   440-891-2766
                   mmitchell@advanstar.com
                   -----------------------