PlanetEye

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

Thoughts on Travel from Travel Rants

Mark Evans

Director, Community

One of my favorite travel bloggers is Darren Cronian, who writes the popular and award-winning Travel Rants blog. Darren recently invited his Twitter followers to “interrogate him” about the travel industry, so I took him up on the offer.

With the growing interest in being green and the environment, how do you think the travel industry is going to change or will have to change?

The travel industry is going to have to tackle the environment and global warming issue head on as a group, rather than individually. I’ve seen environment initiatives and they don’t touch the surface. The industry in my eyes has a responsibility to educate consumers.

What’s your take on how travel will be affected by slower economic growth, particularly in the U.S. How will this change how people travel?

I’ve recently read that U.S. visits from Brits were up 11% during May, compared with the same month last year. I think the good pound to dollar exchange rate and the fact that shopping and travelling within the U.S. is much cheaper is the reason.

On the other side of the pond, us Brits are lucky in that we can travel around Europe on low cost airlines for the same price as it costs to get a train from one side of the country to the other. It was recently cheaper for me to buy a return ticket to Slovenia than it was to get a train to London.

I don’t think we’ll see a massive reduction in tourists travelling abroad despite what the media might report, consumers simply need a holiday and break away from it all. Holidays are just as expensive in the U.K. as they’re abroad, with no guarantee of good weather.

What kind travel do you see as up-and-coming? For example, is eco-tourism going to see big growth, or will adventure travel attract a lot of attention?

With over 20 million people reportedly booking their own DIY holiday this year, we are starting to see an increase in multi-centre holidays. Consumers are much more adventurous than they were five years ago. More of us want to take short long weekend breaks to different destinations, rather than have one holiday in one destination.

I don’t think consumers understand eco-tourism holidays. I know I don’t quite ‘get it’ and this is where educating travellers about the environment is important.

What do see as some of the more exciting destinations that people are starting to explore?

Long haul destinations seem to becoming popular as the Euro is strong against the weak Pound, so travellers can get better value for money in destinations like Thailand and Hong Kong. Let’s not forget Eastern European destinations though, like Slovenia, Slovakia and Latvia.

Can you give me the Travel Rants story? When and why did you start writing it? How did the blog evolved? Do you think travel bloggers are starting to get the same as attention and respect from the travel industry as travel journalists?

Well, it’s a question I am asked regularly, and to cut a long story short. I paid a visit to a high street travel agency. The agent who dealt with me had no intention of helping me; she was more bothered about planning her weekend than helping a consumer.

I made my feelings known and walked out of the shop, never to visit again.

I’d heard about blogs from a computer magazine I subscribed to at the time, so I bought hosting, domain, and Travel Rants was created. I write in my spare time, and I’ve no working knowledge of the travel industry so this gives me the opportunity to write from my own experiences.

The blog was featured in the Guardian as an ‘Essential travel website’ along with Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor In 2007 and again this year, Travel Rants was voted best travel consumer blog in the Travolution Awards, which is a massive achievement, considering I was up against a large media organisation.

I don’t think that bloggers get the same respect as journalists from within the travel industry. That does not bother me too much, as I prefer to have my own voice and opinions. One day the industry will catch on and realise how powerful blogs and social media can be.

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