Travel writing

1. Travel writing Chapter 12 (Professional Feature Writing ~Bruce Garrison)

2. Importance of travel writing • First, second, or third-largest industry in 29 states • Other states: local tourism • $582 billion in 2000 (60 million travelers) • Books, magazines, newspapers, printed material, newsletters, online publications

3. Factors for travel writing • Location with natural beauty • Place traveler has never been • Freedom to decide what to do during the trip • Opportunity to experience local history and culture • Other recreation areas, dining, nightlife and shopping

4. Topics for travel writing • Airlines/rail/cruise industry, luggage, rentals, restaurants, hotels, tips from experts, letters from readers, travel books, food, shopping, personal care, wine, weather, business travel concerns, travel products, global events …

5. Audience for travel writing • Must simultaneously address two audiences: • People who have not been to the place you write about • People who have already been there

6. How to succeed • Write about places to visit, historical places, annual festivals, national parks, cities, resorts, inns, places to stay, restaurants with views, easiest and cheapest ways to get there. Convey the richness, color, excitement, fun, moods, atmosphere, admission prices, times for an attraction. Also relate personal experiences (best place to park in a busy neighborhood)

7. Do your research • Read the travel section you want to write for. What kind of stories and photographs are published? Maps? Supplementary material? Where do they come from? Does the section contain more than basic “destination pieces”? What else? What sources? What is the writing style? Narrative or first person?

8. Contemporary issues • Ethics involving Subsidized and Sponsored Travel: Other sources pay for travel (hotels, airlines, restaurants, tourism commission, chambers of commerce). • Some publications won’t accept; others accept if you credit the sources

9. Contemporary issues • Use of Subjectivity: Should writers follow a news style and be objective? Or should they have a personalized, subjective style that will appeal to more readers?

10. Contemporary issues • Public Policy Issues in Travel and Recreation: Topics include public and private travel and recreation issues and controversies, many focusing on public spending, the environment, development matters, and quality of life concerns

11. Travel and leisure trends • The idea: What is the general idea of leisure? What constitutes travel and vacationing patterns in your region? • Types of leisure: What are the prevailing community types of leisure activities or vacations? What seem to be the different philosophies about leisure time usage in your area?

12. Travel and leisure trends • Priorities: How do your readers spend their personal funds on travel and leisure? How do they spend their time? Is it local or on the road? Simply, what do people think, feel, and do about their non-work time? • Social problems: Travel/leisure needs of different sectors of the community or market? • Promotion: Roles of community, government, private sector

13. Travel and leisure trends • Development of attitudes: You will not only want to know the characteristics of leisure, but you might benefit from understanding how these priorities have been developed. What ar the conditions leading to decisions? What does government policy toward travel and recreation or leisure have to do with it? What are the influences of the private sector?

14. Writing styles • Experienced traveler-turned writer. Narrative writing. Remains descriptive. Good vocabulary, precise adjectives and adverbs. Emphasis on first-person experience. Friendly, casual, own reactions. Recreate dialogue. Put people and places in the story. Avoid clichés.

15. Five basic approaches • Destination articles • Attraction articles • Service articles • Personal experience articles • Roundup articles

16. Destination articles • Destination stories simply tell readers the basics about places they might go on a trip. What’s there? What’s there to do? What sorts of accommodations are available?

17. Attraction articles • More specific than destination articles. These tell readers about a particular place, such as a park or a historical site

18. Service articles • Explains how to travel better by letting the reader understand the mechanics of traveling. This includes articles about buying airline or cruise line tickets or negotiating customs and other legal hurdles in a country known for its tight import and export and immigration rules

19. Personal experience articles • May do the same as any of the three previous approaches, but they interject a personal experience perspective, including such things as emotional responses to the experiences. These stories have high levels of anecdotal content

20. Roundup articles • Give readers a summary view of a subject by theme. An example might be the “10 bargain deals for this winter’s Caribbean cruise season,” in which the writer assembles information from different places and summarizes them in listed or other organized formats

21. Article enhancement • Web sites related to your story: Basic information such as contacts, maps, operation hours, directions, and prices • E-mail sources ahead of time • Local business organizations • Use visitors bureaus • Use sources at your hotel

22. Article enhancement • Go to the library • Build your own travel library • Contact specific site sources • Use a wide variety of sources • Call to confirm appointments and visit dates

23. Destination article fact box • Directions • Parking • Days and hours of operations • General information • Contact • Lodging • Food and other facilities • Souvenirs • Tours • Special upcoming events

24. Travel Industry sources • HUMAN SOURCES: • Local editors, reporters, tourism directors, hotel staff, public information officers, managers of attractions, residents of area you visit, tour guides, shop merchants, World atlas, history section at a local bookstore, U.S. atlas, hotel, motel room guest books, travel sites, airline in-flight magazines

25. Travel Industry sources • WRITTEN SOURCES: • Tour books (annuals), local authors’ books, local newspaper files, national, regional travel magazines, Auto association guide books, attraction press kits, local telephone directories, local authors, local historians, local museum directors, cab and bus drivers