Call me cynical…

By Julie Schwietert On June 8, 2008 · 6 Comments

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Worth a trip to Aruba?

I’m an airplane seat scavenger, picking up the newspapers and magazines other travelers have left behind.

THAT’S MY ONLY excuse for reading USA Today’s recent article, “Guests’ videos star in hotels’ online ads.”

The proliferation of websites that permit any user to upload video–among them, YouTube, Triporia, and TripFilms — has had an interesting, and perhaps unexpected, outcome: travel industry marketers are recruiting amateur videographers to push their products.

As journalist Roger Yu noted:

“Eager to capture the attention of Internet-savvy guests, hotels are becoming more serious about using online videos as a marketing tool. They’re encouraging and monitoring guests’ videos of their stays. They’re creating their own YouTube channels and other video content to showcase their properties and to launch new brands.”

At least one tourist-videographer has managed to snag a free 7-day stay at the Marriott’s Renaissance Ocean Suites in Aruba for the video he took merely as a memento of his vacation.

Marriott’s communications representation, Kathleen Matthews, is quoted in the article as saying, “We can’t be seen as controlling the content. Now we have to participate in the conversation.”

Umm. Yeah. Call me cynical, but how is fishing for users’ amateur videos and paying them on the sly for another video NOT controlling the content? Someone being offered an expenses-paid stay at a Caribbean resort might well feel pressured to produce a video praising the trip sponsor effusively, don’t you think?

Share your thoughts in the Comments below!

Photo: Salvatore.Freni (creative commons)

About The Author

Julie Schwietert

Julie Schwietert Collazo is a writer, editor, researcher, and translator currently in New York, formerly of Mexico City and San Juan. She is Matador's managing editor and is the lead faculty member of MatadorU's travel writing program.

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Jacquie Kubin

Perks of being a travel writer?

But is a blogger, or an amateur video-you tube star a journalist, a writer, a professional?

I get invited to attend family "vacations" to check out resorts, filled with giftees and perks. I don't particularly like them, but will go on one now and then. The difference is that if something ain't right, I tell it like it is or don't cover the property

Regardless of how much I have been pampered and expensed. I have gone on trips that I have just not written about because thy are not "where they should be" as a destination. The properties, by offering these things to non-professionals they are manipulating the viral coverage they get.

As a professional, I can only hope that this trend will also pass. Perks are a part of the business. But when you consider what it takes to get a good story, time and energy wise both on travel and in writing it up, the professional is a far cry from the amateur.

There is room for both, there will have to be. I am however looking for journalists for my publication.

And yes, properties are going to exploit for positive viral coverage.

Just one more thing to deal with.

Jacquie Kubin
Editor
Donne Tempo Magazine
http://www.donnetempo.com
Julie

Hi, Jacquie-

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

In some ways, I agree that this new marketing campaign is akin to the press trip; however, I think that there are some important distinctions.

The kinds of people profiled in the USA Today article and who are being contacted by marketing reps are not, in most cases, professional writers or videographers. Thus, they're less likely to be aware of the ethical implications of accepting a free vacation in exchange for producing a video that will be uploaded to YouTube. Professional writers know, for instance, that there are inherent ethical issues to be considered– even when they FAIL to consider them!

For some more great insight on this topic, check out http://thetravelersnotebook.com/top-10-lists/10-s…
http://matadortravel.com/travel-blog/grenada/jgbr…
and

http://thetravelersnotebook.com/photography-q-a/t…
Julie Schwietert

Jacquie-

Thanks for your feedback.

I agree with you, and I think it's important for everyone involved to realize that the folks who are making these videos (just like folks who submit reviews on TripAdvisor) are not professionals. Yet they are, in effect, getting "paid" for their "work" with an expenses-paid vacation.

Professionals recognize that there are ethical implications of accepting press trips–even when they FAIL to consider those implications. We've been having some great content produced on Matador about this subject, including:

http://thetravelersnotebook.com/top-10-lists/10-s…
http://matadortravel.com/travel-blog/grenada/jgbr…
and

http://thetravelersnotebook.com/photography-q-a/t…
http://www.donnetempo.com Jacquie Kubin

Perks of being a travel writer?

But is a blogger, or an amateur video-you tube star a journalist, a writer, a professional?

I get invited to attend family “vacations” to check out resorts, filled with giftees and perks. I don’t particularly like them, but will go on one now and then. The difference is that if something ain’t right, I tell it like it is or don’t cover the property

Regardless of how much I have been pampered and expensed. I have gone on trips that I have just not written about because thy are not “where they should be” as a destination. The properties, by offering these things to non-professionals they are manipulating the viral coverage they get.

As a professional, I can only hope that this trend will also pass. Perks are a part of the business. But when you consider what it takes to get a good story, time and energy wise both on travel and in writing it up, the professional is a far cry from the amateur.

There is room for both, there will have to be. I am however looking for journalists for my publication.

And yes, properties are going to exploit for positive viral coverage.

Just one more thing to deal with.

Jacquie Kubin
Editor
Donne Tempo Magazine
http://www.donnetempo.com
http://www.collazoprojects.com Julie

Hi, Jacquie-

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

In some ways, I agree that this new marketing campaign is akin to the press trip; however, I think that there are some important distinctions.

The kinds of people profiled in the USA Today article and who are being contacted by marketing reps are not, in most cases, professional writers or videographers. Thus, they’re less likely to be aware of the ethical implications of accepting a free vacation in exchange for producing a video that will be uploaded to YouTube. Professional writers know, for instance, that there are inherent ethical issues to be considered– even when they FAIL to consider them!

For some more great insight on this topic, check out http://thetravelersnotebook.com/top-10-lists/10-steps-to-surviving-your-first-press-trip/

http://matadortravel.com/travel-blog/grenada/jgbrandt/the-first-press-trip

and

http://thetravelersnotebook.com/photography-q-a/top-5-secrets-travel-writers-wont-tell-you/
http://collazoprojects.com/ Julie Schwietert

Jacquie-

Thanks for your feedback.

I agree with you, and I think it’s important for everyone involved to realize that the folks who are making these videos (just like folks who submit reviews on TripAdvisor) are not professionals. Yet they are, in effect, getting “paid” for their “work” with an expenses-paid vacation.

Professionals recognize that there are ethical implications of accepting press trips–even when they FAIL to consider those implications. We’ve been having some great content produced on Matador about this subject, including:

http://thetravelersnotebook.com/top-10-lists/10-steps-to-surviving-your-first-press-trip/

http://matadortravel.com/travel-blog/grenada/jgbrandt/the-first-press-trip

and

http://thetravelersnotebook.com/photography-q-a/top-5-secrets-travel-writers-wont-tell-you/

Call me cynical…

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