Take a look at the blog sector that always leads us in terms of innovative business models, monetization and industry relations – Fashion.
This week it was announced that fashion blogger Emily Johnston (@fashionfoiegras) has designed a new handbag – a blogger-friendly handbag “which includes a padded pocket to hold a blogger’s trusty digital SLR camera and a compartment to store flat shoes for when heels get too much”.
In pre-blogger days, all but a very small handful of TV and print travel journalists were anonymous, but even then there were similar rare examples.
In the UK, readers of The Sunday Times newspaper travel section would recognise the work of their Chief Travel Correspondent, David Wickers, and his work as the travel editor of Good Housekeeping magazine. So when in 2005 he teamed up with well-known tour operator, Jerry Bridge, founder of Bridge the World, to create Bridge & Wickers it was a bit of a branding & skills no-brainer!
Now I’m not suggesting that some of our pre-eminent travel bloggers should rush off and set up travel companies – at least not yet I’m not suggesting that some of our pre-eminent travel bloggers should rush off and set up travel companies – at least not yet – but I am suggesting that switched on tour operators and travel companies might start thinking about partnering with key bloggers on the creation of travel products.
Already we are seeing innovative partnerships with bloggers like the G Adventures’ Wanderers in Residence blog, but that is simply providing editorial copy on their destinations and tours. As yet (at least, not to my knowledge) Bruce Poon Tip hasn’t asked Gary, Nellie, Jodi, Matt, or any of the team to create their ideal tour itinerary to Morocco, Thailand, or Namibia, for example.
There’s no reason why blogger-branded tours shouldn’t become a feature of the new socially engaged travel industry. We might all get quite used to seeing, for example…
- A railway tour operator offering the 8-day Trains on the Brain ‘must-do’ rail tour of Poland.
- A city break operator featuring several 48-hour Adventure weekends.
- An Indian Festivals tour brochure by Mariellen Ward from the tours division of a luxury hotel group.
- A 6-night Planet D Classic Jamaica break in the brochure of a mainstream operator.
- Janice Waugh‘s 14-day ‘Solo in Europe’ adventure tour itinerary from the tours division of a long haul airline.
(Sorry guys. Hope you don’t mind my using you as examples!)
The deal could be quite innovative too. Maybe a ‘design’ fee on the work putting it together and then a straight-forward commission on PAX, say 5% per customer? The operator gets a scaled cost on the success of the tour and the blogger can add a (hopefully) healthy revenue stream. Both parties benefit from the publicity and exposure to different audiences (the blogger’s name is in front of all those brochure readers and website viewers. The operator’s name is in front of the blogging community’s readership.) and both parties have a vested interest in marketing and engagement.
So, what kind of tour would you lend your name to?
Image: Puuikibeach
Post Revisions:
- 8 August, 2012 @ 8:01 [Current Revision] by Alastair McKenzie
- 27 November, 2011 @ 15:39 by John O'Nolan
Thank you for this post – this is exactly the kind of product I’m developing right now: volunteer teaching/ cultural exchange experiences for teachers and others who just want to learn about other cultures. I’m starting with a place where I volunteered last summer – Tana Toraja, Sulawesi, Indonesia. It’s a very unique destination with few tourists, rich with cultural and volunteer opportunities. The details/ plans you describe here at the end give me some direction and definitely help.
I’m glad to have found your blog and will continue to check in!
-Heather
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You’ve just planted a seed…
Interesting idea. If nothing else, it might provide feedback on how many readers of celebrity travel blogs are active travelers and not just armchair travelers.
Thinking about this some more:
Maybe the best solution for tour-minded bloggers is to run their own tours (assuming that they have outgoing personalities and business skills).
As I recall, Rick Steves started out by teaching an adult-education class about European travel. His syllabus became a guidebook, and early in his career, he began taking travelers (mostly residents of the Seattle area, where he lived) on European tours. Today, he’s a well-known TV travel guru and guidebook author, but he still runs a successful tour business.
Another example: Karen and Mike Henderson are an American couple in Venice, Italy who have personal blogs at http://theveniceexperience.blogspot.com and http://hendersoninvenice.blogspot.com. After Karen got Italian citizenship (her mother was born in Italy) a few years ago, they launched a local tour business in Venice. I doubt if they earn any money from their blogs, but they spend much of the year leading well-heeled American tourists around the city. (Mike also does photo tours for visiting camera buffs.) Thanks to word-of-mouth referrals from TripAdvisor, they get all the business they can handle.
Finally, Michael McColl, who publishes the Travel Insider e-mail newsletter, has been successful in organizing river cruises and tours for his readers.
Interesting article, Alastair.
Indeed, this is partly what I tried to do with my XYZ business. I approached a few travel bloggers, asking them if they would be interested and in this case to come back to me with a few trip proposals. Truth is that while I received many compliments for the websites and wonderful wishes, I never got a concrete proposal for a ‘blogger-branded’ trip.
I couldn’t tell if this was due to my business being a start-up, or because besides the awesome encouraging words there is no real interest in this kind of initiative. Maybe the time was not ripe yet, or there is the need of a large Tour Operator backing up a trip like that.
For sure, I find very interesting how G Adventures is moving and I am pretty sure that this is only the first step towards a further evolution of the travel industry, where professional travel bloggers will be able play a relevant role.
Let’s see what wil come out in the near future!
Alastair,
I like the idea and also like the thinking for how this idea was spawned. I think you are on to something.
Very interesting idea! I’d be open to designing a cruise itinerary :)
The seed is sowed indeed. This post’s certainly flicked the entrepreneurship switch in many of us – no doubt there’ll be many joyous announcements in the coming months of ‘celebrity’-bespoke-tours ventures from our peers in the industry/community.
Now, who fancies a tailor-made hitchhiking holiday? There are, for certain, a few travel bloggers who thoroughly enjoyed their experiences hitchhiking with an ‘expert tour guide’ :p
Interesting idea and who better to recommend trips than bloggers who love to travel.
I can see a range of “my postcard from” tours =)
Thanks for the comments, guys.
Yes, it’s interesting how much debate this post kicked off. Since posting I’ve heard rumours about blogger-branded collaborations along the lines I described being in the early planning stages. Fashion bloggers eat yer heart out!
Thanks for mentioning me Alastair. What you may not know, is that I DID create two India tours: the Dream in India Tour and the Breathe in India tour. I custom-designed the itineraries based on some of my favourite places and was planning to accompany the tours (along with a real tour guide).
The first year, I partnered with an Indo-Canadian travel & tour company, and the second year I did it essentially on my own, with some help from a travel agent — who was also providing the license. I got lots of interest but very few people actually putting down a deposit, so both years I had to cancel the tours.
What I learned is that it is a LOT of work to create, promote, sell and fill tours — if you don’t have the infra-structure in place. I think to be successful, a blogger would have to partner with an established travel & tour company, like Intrepid Travel. I would do it again, but only in partnership with someone like Intrepid. Too much work otherwise.
As I said recently elsewhere, I grew up dreaming of being a writer — the Bruce Chatwin of India — not of being a tour operator!
hah! So I’m an inspired futurologist…. but a little ill-informed! :)
No, I didn’t know you had, but it certainly figures, which is why I was using you as an example. You’re right, I think the future lies in branding partnerships with companies like Intrepid, G Adventures, Explore Worldwide. And I’m convinced we will begin to see inspirational blogger-branded tour products in the not too distant future.
Thanks for the mention Alastair. It’s definitely something I’ve given some thought to. When you start thinking about it, you can see how it would easily blossom out from the blog/online concept into a fully fledged business.
Doesn’t have to be a whole business though. It could just be a one-off licensing project, or occasional project, because that’s what the blogger would be doing, licensing their brand to a tour operator. The tour operator sells and operates the tours. The blogger helps set it up, and maybe (optionally), engages with customers from time to time – answering questions, giving extra tips – but that’s it.
Yeah that’s a good point, I’d be down for an arrangement like that that leveraged my brand, collateral and concept. I don’t much fancy leading a bunch of randoms around a city for 2 days. :P
I want to see the sales brochure for the tailor-made hitchhiking holiday–especially the cover photo that shows 40 people standing at the side of the road with their thumbs out, hoping for a ride. :-)
I’d lend my name, Nancy D. Brown, to an equestrian tour. Of course, I would have ridden at the ranches previously to make sure the properties merited my endorsement.
Imagine riding horseback from cottage to cottage in Wales or castle to farm house in England and Ireland. I have yet to experience an equestrian safari in South Africa. However, I know several high-end tour operators offer these opportunities.
What a trip!
I’m not sure how I’d feel about having my name (or our site’s name) attached to a tour that was organized and marketed by a third party. “Leery”? “Nervous”? Those adjectives might fit better than “enthusiastic” or “overjoyed.”
What if John and Jane Doe bought the Venice for Visitors tour of Venice and were disappointed? Or they went on the Paris for Visitors tour of Paris and thought they’ve been ripped off? Even if my wife and I weren’t legally liable, we’d feel bad, and we’d be vulnerable to having our names and sites cursed on TripAdvisor, Facebook, and other venues around the Web.
I’ve been running a print/online travel publishing business for almost 10 years and I run one trip to Italy per year for my subscribers. It really came from demand – “we love the experiences you write about, how about leading a trip.” I’ve had requests to do more than one trip a year. People want to come 1) because I’m personally leading it and I’ve built a relationship with them over many years and 2) they’ve read my newsletter and have a good sense of my vision of travel/authentic experiences.
Any travel company would be brilliant to try to tap into these established relationships and partner with a blogger/author/writer/regional expert who already has a following. Running a trip and all the logisitics, liability, etc. isn’t for everyone so a partnership would be most attractive for a blogger/publisher.
BTW, Alastair, this is quickly becoming one of my favorite sites. You bring up SO many great topics!
I was just talking about this with another blogger the other day! I’m a big history geek, and since I’m a historical reenactor, I hear time and time again about people who want to take a history-themed vacation but don’t want to deal with the logistics side. I would love to help set up some sort of group tour-type thing based on my own expertise, but I have no idea where to even begin!