You just noticed on Facebook that two colleagues are off to the Amalfi Coast on a press trip. Your heart sinks. Why weren’t you invited? Chances are you’re not on that invitation list for a reason. So what does one have to do to get on and stay on these lists? Here are some dos [...]
About a year ago, I was on a press trip with three other journalists. Our driver did a yeoman’s job of taking us places to get great stories and really amazing photographs. He personally went out of his way many times for us, taking group pictures, working very long days, even lugging one writer’s camera [...]
I cringed when I saw the headline… … “How to Score a Press Trip”, By Christy and Scott, from The Ordinary Traveler and as I hovered over the link to click it, I braced myself to read something that was going to get me all fired up. As a PR pro, the last thing [...]
Hi there, I’m Anthony from TheTravelTart.com,… ….and I’m going to write about my experiences on how to land the odd travel press trip here and there – starting from scratch. I’ve managed to score three press trips so far in 2010 – to Fiji, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, and with all of [...]
I’ve been working on this post for several days now….. …and hesitated even publishing it but on Monday I read Trisha’s “Why Am I Not Getting Invited on Press Trips?” Then, a couple nights ago @solofriendly and @dkferm had a similar discussion. Trust me, I am not the type of person that dots my I’s [...]
For most travel writers, finding the time to write while on the road is a challenge. Everything is a distraction – the excitement of going to a new place, meeting new friends, experiencing a culture different from your own. If you’re on one of those media tours where the publicist drags you to every must-see [...]
Welcome to another installment of Ask The Editor! This month a travel blogger I know personally called and asked me why he/she (I won’t say which, I’m trying to keep this anonymous since it involves some constructive criticism) has been declined by several PR companies and destinations for press trips. It was frustrating just being [...]
When we go on press trips, we hope that we’ll have fun, eat the local food, meet interesting people and pick up a story or two along the way that will knock the socks off of our editors. Unfortunately, there will be press trips that are unorganized, boring and uninspiring … and finding a [...]
Hosted Press Trips – Are you in favor or not? This topic has been tossed around for years with stands pro and con. Discussions generally run to extremes and can get quite heated. In the past, most salaried journalists were not allowed to participate in hosted trips. The publishers felt it clouded their reporting. Instead, [...]
Editor’s Note: This is the first article in our new Category for Op-Ed pieces, created to give travel writers a place to voice an opinion and engage in conversation. If you’re interested in submitting your own Op-Ed article, please visit this page. Be sure to read and follow our editorial guidelines for Op-Ed pieces. Op-Ed [...]
“Confessions of a Travel Writer” sat, unwatched, on my TiVo as I headed to last weekend’s Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference. One afternoon, while surrounded by a group of esteemed writers, the topic of the show came up, and the verdict was unanimous – they hated it. As someone who likes to form [...]
A while back I wrote about a Media Trip I went on in April, to the Park Royal Holiday Resort in Cozumel, Mexico, and I followed that up with a list of “Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts for Media Trips“. Most established writers have been invited – at one time or another, sometimes frequently – [...]
Pretty much every writer has at some point been asked to write for free, and it’s most common with travel writers. It’s a ‘dirty little secret’ that we don’t like to admit to, but most of us have done it, and will continue to do so from time to time. We certainly don’t want to [...]
For those that don’t already know, IFWTWA stands for the International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Association. It is a global network of people involved in the hospitality and lifestyle industries and the writers, bloggers, and journalists who promote them by informing others about them. This past week I had the great pleasure of interviewing [...]
Many beginning Travel Writers and Bloggers ask us “what exactly is a ‘media trip’ (or a ‘press trip’)?” These two terms are used interchangeably, though you’ll see and hear Media Trip more frequently. If you read my last post “Travel Media Trip – Cozumel Follow Up” you’ll have a good idea of what a travel [...]
