Web to print, and back again – standing up for readers
Consumer blogger Travel Rants (of Travel Blog Camp fame) has angered a lot of travel agents by calling for a ban on familiarisation trips.
It was a bold move, and opened up some great debate (84 comments to be precise).
However, in one fell swoop he managed to anger most of the readers of Travel Trade Gazette (the publication I work for).
So where does TTG fit into all this?
Well, first of all TTG’s core readership is the UK travel trade, and agents in particular, so for this kind of comment to be made, in a very public arena (Travel Rants is a popular website, widely quoted in the national press, and wins awards) was obviously going to merit some kind of response.
Making the news
The comment was picked up immediately by TTG editor Lucy Huxley on Twitter.
Then followed news in the Friday edition on page 4 (also put online to invite more feedback). This saw both Dubai Tourism and the Elite Travel Group consortium hit back at the ban fams posting, making their case for the importance of fam trips. Following the news, more letters were emailed in and comments left online.
Editorial on the blogosphere
The Friday issue also saw Lucy’s leader, page 2, talk about the post (online version above).
The follow-ups
The folowing issue (April 10) then dedicated a page to readers’ letters, as well as more news – see the online version below (with slightly dubious picture of a snorkelling Mick McKay).
The verdict?
Should fams be banned? Probably not. But following our own discussions in the office, there is always a need for fam trips to have the right people on them, and be well organised.
But overall, this shows how a paper product and online activities can merge effectively – a melting pot of traditional journalism and social media. It’s also about standing up for your communities, representing their voices, no matter where the conversation takes place.
Now, in social media terms, me writing about events that took place at the end of March might seem slow. But in terms of the reaction at the time, from web to paper, and back to web again, it was very fluid, and shows the merits of tuning into blogs and other social media websites out there…
Does your point of view of the debate match that of your employer?
I like the analysis except I would add one point.
Should we judge volume of noise generated by the blog post by true number of comments – or booking volume weighted number of comments?
At the same time as all that was going on – LowCostBeds announced their booking revenue numbers within their financial results. Their numbers equate to about 100 small travel agencies worth.
Should that be one voice – or 100?
The larger OTAs stayed pretty much silent, didn’t they? But they are the silent majority when it comes to booking volumes – so just because most who commented went one way that doesn’t reflect the feeling of “the industry” – should you choose to to use a booking volume weighted definition of what the industry is!
Being a mag, no doubt you define the industry by breakdown of subscriber numbers…. not sure that is a true reflection of reality. Could make a great discussion on another blog post this one!
@Kevin – Pretty much yes. I’ve been on a few fams (agent and press trips), and have seen how useful they are. They also motivate agents (a lot of fam trips tend to be rewards for sales etc). While you’ll see one particular hotel chain, there’s usually a tourist board element too, so it improves cdestination knowledge. The video idea is a bad one from Darren.
But they’re not ALL good. One press trip was hard work owing to a few of the other journalists taking liberties, being disrespectful etc.
Another angle I’ve tried to look at here is web/print relationships…
@Alex – 84 comments, nearly all disagreeing with the post. That’s quite a lot.
TTG readership is mostly travel agents – and the feedback we had came from small and large companies…