Blog homeYes yes I know I said I wasn’t going to write about blogging again…… far too dull. Anyway, think of this as medicine….. bad taste but good for you.
Background: Travel agents go on “fam trips” (familiarisation trips). These can sometimes be “freely” provided by suppliers - or at least heavily discounted. Should there be travel blogger fam trips? After all, if agents are taking them - shouldn’t bloggers?
Before we go on, I don’t know the answer. Its very much a personal choice. My blog (this one) is written on company time and published on a company domain name (although with a different user interface to our main site). That I expect makes it a very different situation to blogs written by individuals - or blogs written by existing travel industry publications. Of course it helps that it is my company…….
Here is the sum total of gifts / remuneration I have received as a result of writing this blog:
- CheapFlights chocolate at Easter (although via a 3rd party because CheapFlights don’t send chocolate to bloggers!)
- Pint of beer (multiple) from various people - at the recent Travolution question time event in London
That is it. Chocolate and beer. Hardly worth it really. (on second thoughts….!)
But I don’t ask for (or seek) anything either. I know as a result of writing this blog
- The website is ranked very well for SEO on all sorts of travel industry keywords (not that I monetise this benefit)
- You know who I am…… I no longer retain a PR agency for my business (saving me thousands of pounds a year)
- I know many interesting people who I wouldn’t have known otherwise (even as a previously fairly well respected travel ecommerce contractor / consultant working for leading European travel companies)
- I get asked to do various press things and events….. although I dream of the day when I am asked as a result of what my business is doing - rather than as a result of what I am writing about others!
- A couple of other benefits that I don’t really want to disclose
So then I read about how travel companies should be creating fam programmes for bloggers. I am not sure if this is something I agree with or not. It just seems to break my concept of writing what I think - rather than writing about what has been suggested to me. Just seems wrong.
Further reading on the proposals:
- Now is the time to start your blogger fam progam (Shane Keener)
- Tourism bureaus and bloggers (Chris Brogan)
My basic principle is that “My words are not for hire”. Just because you give me a free service, I may not write about you. However, other bloggers consider that they spend a great deal of time writing their blogs - so why not get some form of remuneration from their efforts (if only “in kind”). They believe they will remain objective regardless of any incentives.
Having said all of that, I don’t object to the concept of a “free lunch”. Shane suggest that travel companies invite bloggers to lunch. Frankly, not sure I particularly care for lunch - I would just like everyone to send me stories or areas where you are having discussions so I can keep this blog full of topics people consider relevant. But, if that happens over a lunch, great…..
So is anyone considering fam trips for bloggers? Seems risky to me - both to the travel company and the blogger.
If you want to be notified next time something is published sign up for email alerts or subscribe to the RSS feed. Thank you for reading!
Being controversial that I can be from time to time, I have to say that I think some people within the industry think on the lines of “oh, bloggers will write any old crap, we’ll tell them what to say, pay them a few £s and they will be happy” and that annoys me.
Offering me money, or a freebie trip will not make me write positive things about the company, and looking at it from a companies perspective would you want to have your content on a blog with tons of other fluffy reviews, and on a blog that no one trusts.
I’ve been offered sumo beanbags, state of the art computer chairs, holiday in Spain, trip to a theme park, and countless other gifts. Last weekend I went to Nottingham and spent a few hours with a bunch of developers and helped them understand blogs and social media, for a new travel startup, yes, I got a meal and a beer paid for, but I will not be blogging about them.
I really do think that if you are a serious blogger than you have to be as independent as you can possibly be. Whilst I have ads on TR, they pay for hosting, and the amount of time and effort I spent writing and promoting the blog, but I always tell the advertiser that I am not going to stop writing negative posts about them if a consumer complained to me about them.
I think it’s important that you are up front and honest. I was devasted when someone suggested that a post I published about car rental tips, was a paid for post, and I ended up deleting it because I was so concerned that it could be conceived that way, which was a shame because it was an excellent post.
Hi Alex
There have been a few attempts in the past to harness bloggers in the name of travel promotion. Passenger Focus, the UK’s rail watchdog, even offered commuters free passage if they kept a blog. The Netherlands tourism people set up a quasi-press trip for bloggers from the States. And Caribbean tourism in New York invited bloggers to press briefings. All of these were in 2006. The idea has been pretty quiet since then.
I imagine it is unlikely to happen much now - when operators, according to the Guardian this week are cutting back on regular press trips - unless, say, a specialist firm wanted coverage from a niche blogger with a good readership.
From my point of view, there should be no difference between journalist and blogger in this instance. You declare an interest up front and then be as objective as possible. The danger lies in letting yourself be swayed by preferential treatment. But that happens all the time with regular journalists, unused to press trips or easily influenced by free rum punches.
Coincidentally - ok, slightly tangentially - here’s my story today about a blogger getting an upgrade on the QE2. http://www.thetravelprblog.com/2008/10/16/cunard-upgrades-a-blogger-for-the-qe2s-final-crossing/
Hi Neil
Do you have to go to journalism school to learn about how to take free press trips without being influenced? How do you acquire that skill! I don’t need any help learning about how to drink rum punches!
Wow - I love that story about the QE2
Journalists primarily go to journalism school to learn media law, shorthand, government structure, writing and subbing skills, design and a bit of photography. Ethics is not included - hacks generally pick that on-the-job (or not).
As a new entrant to the travel/tourism market I am still learning but it does appear to me that Bloggers are “influencers” the same as Travel agents or journalists … probably more so because you are seen as more independent and honest.
Tourism destinations and companies should not worry about any criticisms or complaints that you expose because they should be able to improve their services; in effect you are providing them with customer feedback.
I think the challenge is for Bloggers to generate income to make a living from their Blogs. If ads and critical comments don’t earn sufficient money perhaps the business model needs to seek out great travel and tourism experiences that you can report, still with independence and honesty, and also with authority and personal knowledge from a fam trip. You never know you might find enough material to make a TV programme.
I find it a bit strange that you’ve begun this post with a comparison to trade FAM trips, when to me the far more obvious comparison is to media FAMs - but it seems that has been picked up in other’s comments.
In my position at a travel orientated PR agency I organise literally hundreds of press trips a year for various tourist boards, hotels and tour operators. The journalists (at least the good ones) understand the PR/media relationship. It is their obligation to write about a destination if they have had a supported trip there, but then it is also the PR’s obligation to give them a story they can write about - and a good PR will match a story with a journalist interested in the topic. The idea is that no one has to compromise their integrity, that the journalist ends up writing the piece they wanted to write and that the PR wanted from them: everyone’s happy.
This should be feasible with bloggers too - though the nature of blogging is more independent and opinion based than journalism, if the right blogger is matched with the right story/destination then no one need be compromised.
The problem, I think, that occurs at this time is the level of influence bloggers have. Are there any travel blogs that have the same quantity of readers as the Mail on Sunday? In terms of trade press of course Travolution is very influential, but honestly if a client is to pay for a trade journalist to visit a destination, they would rather it was something they were more familiar with and had a more guaranteed result - like sister title Travel Weekly.
At the moment, though the entire blogosphere is massively influential on consumer behaviour, but if as a PR you’re approaching just one outlet, a mainstream one is going to work better. The examples of travel organisations sending bloggers on trips raised by Neil were successful probably more for surrounding coverage from them (on other blogs, and in mainstream media) which isn’t going to keep happening if it’s a common occurence. Stories get seeded through blogs, but no single blog is yet worth the investment that a mainstream outlet is, and until one is it won’t be happening.
I do think this is an inevitability though - eventually single bloggers will have as much as or more influence than mainstream media. So sending bloggers on trips has to happen, just not yet.
Just as a follow up Alex, having said all this, we are as an agency trying to encourage clients to take new media seriously and some are more forward thinking than others. If we could get a client to support you on a trip (one that was packed with things that may interest you…) would you accept?
Could someone send me to an article in the media (doesn’t have to be travel press) where the journalist has being on a “fam trip” or product review, and has written a balanced article? I.e. reports on the positive and negative aspects of the trip or product. I’ll be surprised if you find one.
I might suggest this - http://www.travelmail.co.uk/travel/Canada/Toronto/The-ultimate-polar-excursion.html?article_id=47384 - which funnily enough appeared at the weekend in the MoS.
It’s a good article (which I worked on, so know the writer had full support) and I would say balanced. Wendy refers several times to what a trek it is for UK tourists to get to this part of Canada from the UK - at one point saying that it really ‘isn’t mass market - what little there seems to be is aimed at the domestic market’.
Ontario Tourism are well aware this isn’t a piece on a mass market product, so there’s nothing controversial said here, but it’s a story that the MoS and Wendy wanted to cover, and a nice one at that. A good example of everyone’s happy, no?
@ Kevin
Shorthand! I remember learning Teeline in my gap year before university. Never used it! (but spending 2 weeks in secretarial college was fun as an 18 year old)
@ Ian - started with Fam trips - because this post was started as a result of the two blog posts (linked) that sugested that travel companies start blogger fam trips.
Quantity of readers as MoS - no…. but Darren’s blog is pretty good. Also, this blog gets quality readers (not quantity)…… with many (most) major travel businesses having at few subscribers (i.e widely distributed, but doesn’t penetrate well into some of the very large companies).
Not sure I would take a holiday actually……. firstly because I don’t write about product or destinations here……… only about ecommerce and web stuff…… and secondly because I don’t take holidays (instead do trips and expeditions - such as sailing etc)….. and thirdly - er - I still haven’t worked out my position on this whole discussion yet (except I am not entirely happy with the idea - but not shocked by it)
Alex’s shorthand: you’ve probably not had experience the joys of court reporting.
Hi Alex - I’m a professional travel writer who is also a travel blogger. I DO accept media FAMS and DO write about the good and the bad in my outlets. I’m also one of the four mamas at http://travelingmamas.com, a blog that we use to write about what WE want, not what an editor dictates.
When you pick up a travel mag or research on the internet, what is the first thing a consumer looks for? They are looking for suggestions of places to go. Once they narrow down the WHERE, then they should start researching if a hotel is the best choice or if that destination offers what they are looking for.
I’m US based and there are so many places I would have missed covering if it wasn’t for the chance to take a media fam. I also work a full time job and I’m a mother, so this makes me similar in background to the average consumer. If I didn’t take a few FAMS, then I would not be able to provide so many stories for my readers.
Print pays crap. It makes no sense to spend $4000 USD on a trip to London when my ROI puts me in the negative. Newpapers pay a pittance these days and the sale of an article once MIGHT pay for one night at dump in Luten.
So as a professional who also loves social media, I have made it a personal mission to introduce Hotels, Destinations, and CVBs to the value in bloggers and social media, just as they have opened their doors and introduced me to places in this world that may have otherwise been overlooked.
Here’s a post that is about the other side of travel - the crap that sometimes happens - http://travelingmamas.com/2008/10/09/a-bad-family-vacation-might-be-worse-than-no-trip-at-all/
Also, we have a disclaimer on our site and each company that hosts us is aware that a review may not be positive.
For those new to travel blogging, there is a forum set up at http://NerdsEyeView.com/forum and also the TravelWriters.com forum where there is plenty of information to get your feet wet. Also, at TravelWriterTips.com (one of my sites) I offer an introduction to Press Trips and Travel Writing. There is also a website, PressTrip.com that accepts anonymous stories of press trips and what really goes on. I think there are a few links there as well.
Great topic for conversation and fantastic comments from everyone. Thanks for the forum to voice an opinion. SHL Twitter @Cajun_Mama
Thanks Alex, good point about MoS! Of course quality of media and the readers is taken into account too. It has to be a balance. Numbers talk though, and can sometimes be all a client cares about. Not all though, which is why that offer stands - to yourself or to Darren (who I know runs a very good blog!).
Good to hear that Shannon! It may interest you to learn that we do come across big consumer magazines and newspapers in the UK who ask that we sign waivers accepting that their resultant feature may not be positive, or appear at all. It’s fairly rare, but just demonstrates the relationship has to be about trust both ways.
Thing is, the debate of how much (if any) sway PRs should or do have on journalists has been raging for a while, with no conclusion. It’s a slightly different debate with bloggers as they are generally voicing opinions (you wouldn’t really expect a journalist writing an opinion feature in a newspaper to have been inspired in any way by a PR) but I say make what you can of the opportunities as long as you don’t compromise yourself, as Shannon has shown is possible.
“but Darren’s blog is pretty good”
Its not pretty good, it’s bloody brilliant!
[stops blowing his trumpet]
Well, yes Darren - but in comparison to Mail On Sunday! (who, I admit have a big team, big budgets - but you and I are small in comparison)
You know the old expression - “There is a niche in the market - but is there a market in the niche”….. rants about travel isn’t quite as mainstream as Mail on Sunday! - but they have a bigger market to look at. This is why this whole blogging thing is tricky for PR people - as we may be influential - but are we “big enough” to merit serious PR attention on an individual basis.
Funny thing about your blog is that because you rant - it “kind of gives permission” for others to rant as well….
Ok Ian. [holds hands up] that’s a pretty good example.
I do think these are rare though, and I won’t name companies in particular but fam / paid for reviews stand out a mile.. I’ve been thinking about this, and if I had a blog about destinations, I would probably go on a fam trip, BUT, I would tell the company / tourist board that I will not be writing a fluffy report, if I see something negative, I’ll damn write about it.
If they didn’t like that, well their loss.
I would not do this on a blog like Travel Rants; it would ruin my reputation as someone who is independent
Alex, sorry I must have missed the Mail On Sunday connection. Yes, I am small fry (in height and blog size). I know people are watching what I am writing about, I can see that in my stats. There isn’t a month goes by that the likes of BBC, Sky aren’t contacting me. Sorry, I am not blowing my trumpet again, but I think it’s worth bearing in mind that you should never underestimate blogs.
Yeah Darren
Don’t underestimate us! Thats the spirit! (No danger of us taking ourselves too seriously!)
Why, only today, using my blogging influence …… I changed the world for the better! What was it I hear you ask….. yep I managed to convince TravelMole to remove the horrible sound from their website.
Read the comment on this blog
If it wasn’t for bloggers……… well…….!
Thanks for the acknowledgement Darren, and you’re probably right, they are fairly rare. We’re really happy with this feature though, isn’t it a good sign that we’re pleased with a feature that’s balanced? The PRs don’t want advertorial!
Really, in an ideal world a tourist board wouldn’t send you on a trip with anything bad to write about. But I think that’s a fair enough standpoint, and most tourist boards would be accepting of it I reckon.
And hey, no one’s underestimating anyone! Well aware of the power of the bloggers, which seems to have been demonstrated to TravelMole today!
Alex and Darren: You pair of bloggers are gradually turning into preening national newspaper travel hacks anyway, constantly blowing your own trumpets.
Frankly, however, there is nothing more navel gazing than bloggers/journos talking about the ‘process’ of what they do rather than the interesting stuff they normally write about or what attracted readers to their product in the first place.
Just a personal opinion. You guys carry on.
[OFF TOPIC WARNING]
Hi Kevin
:)
Look at my first line of my actual blog posting…………. ! When I said I wasn’t going to write about blogging again……. this at least had a wider interest (not just to bloggers)
Funny thing is that when I write about blogging they seem to be the posts that get the most comments….. so perhaps it is something I won’t ban altogether….. just do once a month or so! (This is probably because many of the readers of this blog are also bloggers themselves)
Darren did go a bit over the top with his self promotion………. but that is why his blog is called “Rants”…. least I think about things (maybe) which is why it is musings. I see yours is now “mutterings” and you call it “infamous”…. ummm not sure what that says about your blog!
Alex: Interesting that you say your blog posts about blogging [sigh] get you the most comments - but all from bloggers, hacks and PRs!!
[Not industry people or those associated with ecommerce?]
Alex: I was introduced at an event once as the editor of the “infamous” Travolution Blog. Thought I’d use it for launch week.
Good grief this page has filled up since I last looked!
Alex, to answer your question from way up there near the top. Travel hacks who do it week in, week out for the major outlets usually manage to avoid having their heads turned by freebies. Why? a) Because the freebies and fawning don’t make such an impact if you are going somewhere else next week, and again the week after that etc. You just want to get to the essence of the story and make a good job of telling it. Frankly the champagne buffet and free spa treatments can just get in the way of that process. And b) Because you won’t keep getting commissioned by the serious travel editors if you constantly write bumff or advertorial.
Incidentally group press trips are usually (or at least used to be) very different from solo trips. I always got far better articles from solo trips, or at the very least when I abandoned the group by the pool and struck out on my own.
Hi all
Joining the debate rather late… but as someone who worked as a freelance travel writer for years…
1) I agree completely with Neil’s comments above… but I’d like to take them up a notch. Organised group press trips suck. I take Ian’s platitudes about ‘no one compromising their integrity’ with a big pinch of salt. What’s a PR agency doing - err being paid to promote a client! Organised trips are all about seeking to influence… about herding a bunch of journalists around by the noses showing them only what the PR/client wants them to see. PR is about control. Period. Note the ref to ‘giving them a story they can write about.’ I think that says it all… Who’s in charge here? (Or at least who thinks they are… far as I’m concerned it’s the PR agency helping me write MY story… I don’t want their ideas which they have of course worked up to promote their client… thanks…
Solo trips are marginally better if the PR agency you work with is any good. But I had to fight damn hard to get the story I wanted on occasions.
2) No one has commented about how bloggers are self publishers… and that means you really can say what you want to on a blog. Write for a newspaper or magazine and go negative in a travel feature and you worry that the editor won’t take any more stuff from you or that your piece will get dropped or the negative refs taken out. One way or another most travel content (apart from say hotel reviews) is supposed to be lovely sunsets and glorious views… so typically travel writers tend to self censor… they don’t overtly criticise, they just don’t mention the bad stuff at all and focus on the good stuff…
So… in answer to your question Alex… fam trips for bloggers are a great idea - because maybe that way we will have more open and frank depictions of the stuff people see on them! But I can’t see PR agencies hurrying to get bloggers on board… our audiences are indeed not big enough and we’re potentially far more risky… as we’re harder to control!
Hi Jeremy
Right - persuasive. I guess you have to be much more confident in your product before you get bloggers on board….
You started out comparing travel bloggers to travel agents and I think that’s an appropriate comparison.
As a former travel agent, I went on many fams. Invited because the CVB or cruise or tour operator hoped that I would send customers to them. But the payoff for the operator wasn’t guaranteed because I may not have any clients interested in their destination. I once when on a free trip to Sea Pines Plantation in South Carolina and realized after a long cross country with multiple layovers that no one that I knew from San Jose, CA would ever want to go there.
If someone hosted me there now, I’m sure I could find plenty of spas or golf or nightlife to write about. And my audience would not be restricted to people from San Jose. The likelihood or the CVB getting a return on their invite is much better. I certainly have more influence on potential visitors now than I did then.
But if I am compared to Sunset Magazine or another travel publication, my audience is itsy bitsy. It would be foolish for someone to bump the travel features writer from even a small newspaper to give me their seat.
Of course, but just nor for bloggers, fam trips for creative youtube content makers, active socialwebbers etc. Start them now!