Promoting Tours - Tips

Promoting Tours - Tips

Congratulations on the Lonely Planet write up, and hope it gets you business you want, however I am not sure. There are about four to five major guides on the planet Footprintbooks.com Lonelyplanet.com Roughguides.com Frommers.com Moon.com Letsgo.com Fodors.com Fieldingtravel.com Flub-internet.fr/routard/ http://www.hobotraveler.com/guidebooks.php The question is always, as a business owner how to attract the proper clients for my business and not the wrong clients. I would think Lonely Planet and Footprint Guides are the two big ones now in South America, but still as of today, the backpacker or cheap travelers, they are changing fast. However, I do hope the on a shoestring motto of Lonely Planet and the Rough Guides being does rough means something, although for sure it is quickly being left behind as they go for the money and not the travelers. I have traveled now for 10 years and 76 countries, and am presently in Togo, well the guidebooks are not on a shoestring and not rough by any means, and they more or less tell me how to go first class. I need to search for the cheap rooms myself, very annoying, unless I was NOT on a backpacker budget, then it would be perfect. Frommers.com and Fodors.com have already left the backpacker groups and have gone mainstream tourist. This is where the big money people read and buy tours, and fewer arguments on price. I have been writing for about 10 years, and I have slowly learned how travel writers work. They get free or complimentary trips offered to them, then go on a free trip, then write as instructed. The best thing that ever could happens to an Iquitos business, is a Travel Writer from the New York Times, Conde Nast or CNN Traveler, USA today or any big travel magazine comes and writes about your trip. Moreover, contrary to what you may imagine, you can actually pay a travel writer from a big magazine, to come and write, pay the magazine to write an article about your trip. I now believe that about 80 percent of the articles written for travel magazines were paid to be written, and are there because a client paid. The days of original, articles written in Travel Magazines with no agenda are finished. They write as instructed.
Me, I am uncontrollable, and same as the Wild West of Iqutos, enjoy the trip, and enjoy life. Bottom line for business, give free tours to the big writers, and pay magazines to insert articles that look like articles, but are really advertisements. My friend paid 2500 US to have an article he wrote put in Rolling Stones Magazine. This is how the big boys play; they manipulate the Medias or pay them to write as they wish.
Andy of HoboTraveler.com in Atakpame, Togo West Africa May of 2007

Thank you,
Andy HoboTraveler.com
http://www.hobotraveler.com/blogger.html 2007-05-15

Promoting Tours - Tips