Low Cost holiday’s job offer for UK travel bloggers

If you’re a British travel blogger or travel writer who fancies being paid to go on holiday, then you’ll be interested in a search being launched by Lowcostholidays.com.

The online travel company is looking for a Brit who’s up for going on an all expenses paid holiday every month for a year and earning a salary of £20K in return for being the company’s holiday reviewer and the face of their national advertising campaign. They’ll have to write about their experiences in an honest and straight-talking way on the Low Cost Holidays Blog as well being proficient in social networking and promotion - oh and you should enjoy good food, appreciate the finer things in life, be able to swim and demonstrate a love for travel and a willingness to explore. If you’re chosen, you’ll be keeping a video diary , writing blog posts and promoting through social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Your face will also be seen on billboards and in the TV campaign. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem for most of you reading this I’m sure!

If you’re tempted to apply (and I certainly am), you’ll need to go to the company website here and complete a questionnaire about your travel experience and style of travel, and also upload a video with a review of something - I see that someone was doing a review of their stapler, although I suspect you’ll be more convincing if you make a video that’s travel related.

Get your application in by 16th April and the winner will be announced in June.

I’m certainly tempted to apply myself but I’m also intrigued that so many travel companies are now opting to use on-line and social media to promote their brand, in this case in an integrated campaign with TV and mainstream advertising. You’ll remember that I recently recorded a podcast interview with travel writer Lara Dunston about a similar project that she and her husband Terry Carter are undertaking, sponsored by Home-Away Holiday Rentals, called Grantourismo. So I asked Lowcostholidays.com what was behind their campaign and they told me;

Recent research shows that 75% of consumers search online blogs and reviews ahead of a holiday as they consider other consumer’s views more important than anything else so we are hoping to find that ordinary, every day person who will provide the general public with compelling and informative reviews and information on a variety of popular and up and coming holiday destinations.

It seems that more and more travel companies will start capitalising on the power of online media to promote their offering to the general public - good news for us travel bloggers I hope. And if you’re crying because you’re not a Brit and are therefore unable to apply for this job, never fear, I’m sure there will be plenty more opportunities out there once more travel companies join this particular bandwaggon.

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A round-up of Heather on her Travels around the web

I try to do a regular round-up of places my articles have been published around the web, but I must confess that my concentration has lapsed a bit recently - I guess I’ve been so busy doing the writing that I just didn’t quite get round to telling you about them all. Shame on me! So here’s a rather longer than usual round-up of where else you can find Heather on her Travels in November through to February.

Hotel Reviews

If you got the feeling that I was staying in some fabulous hotels recently - the type of places that I’d normally only aspire to before booking something more budget friendly for the family, then you’d be right.

I was invited to do a hotel review of the luxury boutique hotel Heritage Av Liberdade in Lisbon, a mixture of Modern-luxe design and Heritage - read my review of Heritage Av Liberdade for Mr and Mrs Smith Hotels here and my guest post on Platefuls of Portugal: Lisbon’s tasty treats here.

I also took my teenage daughter for a night at the gorgeous Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park in London where we were treated like princesses and enjoyed every minute of living in luxury - read my review for Kiwi Collection of the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park here.

Blog Mentions

I was thrilled in January to find that Lastminute.com mentioned me as one of their top 50 blogs about good stuff - in fact I was number 4 on their list - and what great company I’m keeping!

And that came on top of my nomination around the same time as best European blog in the 2010 Bloggies which brought me loads of extra readers and I hope some of you have stayed to hear more of my travel tales.

Thanks to Louise Brown who featured me as Site of the day at Travelblogsites.com, the blog about the best travel blogs around.  I also appeared in the Top 100 list which is published regularly on the site and am in the top 40 worldwide on the latest count. Although rankings aren’t everything, the list is a useful way to find some other great travel blogs out there to enjoy.

Although it’s a while ago now, thanks to Liz at Travelogged for including my Cedars of Lebanon post and video in her Blog Carnival along with some other great stuff worth reading.

And also to Mary Jo for her mention of my review of Fawsley hall among her travel favourites in this post.

And to Mindaugas at Abroadening who featured my travel photo from Lebanon in his post about photos that encapsulate enspiring moments in travel - mine was the free cakes I was offered outside the mosque in the souk at Sidon in Lebanon.

Europe a la Carte

As usual I’ve been posting weekly on a Thursday over at Europe a la Carte where you’ll find heaps of great Europe travel tips and ideas on things to do and see around Europe.

A boat trip to the Islands off Brittany in France - exploring some the islands that you can visit close the Vannes and the gulf of Morhiban where I visited a friend in July last year.

Visiting the sights of Belem in Lisbon, Portugal - A neighbourhood of Lisbon that has more than it’s fair share of great things to see and is worth a day on it’s own.

London attractions: Things to do in Hyde Park - When I visited London for a weekend recently I stayed at the wonderful Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park and realised that there were some great things to do in Hyde Park nearby - can’t wait to explore more as the weather warms up.

Explore the history of Zakynthos in Greece - Some interesting sights that will give you a taste for the historic past of Zakynthos, and an antedote to the package holiday image of the island.

Climbing St Peter’s church tower in Munich - It was certainly chilly as we climbed this tower to peer down at the Christmas markets below, but there are towers like this in many European cities to give you a different perspective on a city.

Stay in a bunkhouse in Wales and enjoy the great outdoors - A way of travelling that’s half way between B & B and camping, and great for those who enjoy the great outdoors but like to sleep with a roof over their head.

Visit the Pergamon Museum in Berlin - One of the must-see museums of Berlin with practically entire ancient buildings transported into the museum and a good audio-tour.

The Christmas lights of Lisbon and a Happy New Year - in which I advocate trying some Southern European destinations for a Christmas or New Year break - you can see the Christmas lights and still catch a bit of sun if you’re lucky!

Will Easyjet fly to Zakynthos in 2010? - And I was right, as soon after this article was published, Easyjet did announce they would start flights to Zakynthos.

Visit the Christmas Markets in Munich - Taking you through the different Christmas markets we visited in Munich just before Christmas including some that aren’t the obvious choice for the tourist.

The Painted Hall and Chapel at Greenwich, London - One of the beautifully painted historic buildings in Greenwich and it’s free.

A winter break at the Christmas Market in Bath - trying out the Christmas markets closer to home in anticipation of our visit to see the German version in Munich, as well as some other things to see in Bath that you may enjoy on a winter break.

Chill out at Kunsthaus Tacheles in Berlin - It’s grungy, it’s street-art, it’s hip and it’s the authentic side of Berlin, but not the place to take your granny for tea.

The murals of Orgosolo in Sardinia - The wonderful murals that you’ll find in the village of Orgosolo in the heart of mountainous Sardinia, formerly better known for it’s bandits.

Free things to see on London’s South Bank - a walk along the South Bank where you’ll find many great things to see and most of them free.

Battlefield Tours for Remembrance Sunday - Battlefield Tours you might like to make if you’re interested in military history or have an old soldier in the family.

Silent nights for Christmas at the Dennis Severs House in London - One of my most favourite atmospheric places in London to step back in time and see how a prosporous weaving family lived in the 17th century - best seen by candle-light.

A treat for the family at l’Oceanographic sea world in Valencia - A treat for the families, as my kids loved seeing the dolphin show at the Oceanarium in Valencia.

Well - what a relief to get all that off my chest! I hope it won’t be quite so long before the next round up of what I’ve been up to elsewhere on the web.

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7. Interview with Lara Dunston and Grantourismo - Podcast

In Episode 7 in my podcast series. you”ll find an interview with travel writer and blogger, Lara Dunston who’s embarking on a year long project together with her husband, photographer Terry Carter, which they’re calling Grantourismo. They’ll be travelling the world, staying in different apartments around the world sponsored by Home-Away holiday rentals in the UK and you’ll also hear from Sarah Chambers of Home Away on why the company decided to take this approach to promoting their holiday properties.

To download the interview with Lara Dunston podcast, right click here 31 min [mp3]

To subscribe to all my podcasts in ITunes click here

 

 

Shownotes

In the podcast we talked about;

• How Lara first got started in travel writing, working in public relations, film-making and media studies which developed into travel writing, first on a part time and later on a full time basis.
• The realities of being a travel writer - from the fun bits such as eating out in great restaurants, as well as the more mundane bits such as updating guidebook information.
• How Lara and Terry work together as a husband and wife as well as a working partnership.
• How Lara and Terry deal with the practicalities of moving all their belongings, laptops and camera equipment around the world and how they persuade airlines to waive their excess baggage charges.
• The advice Lara has for those who’d like to adopt their lifestyle as a travel writer or location independent worker.
• How Lara and Terry came up with the idea of taking a contemporary Grand Tour for a year, getting into the culture of each place and travelling more slowly and with an authentic flavour.
• What HomeAway Holiday-Rentals can offer travellers looking for holiday apartments, and how they wanted to promote the benefits of extra space and privacy and staying in local neighbourhoods.
• How Home Away wanted to tap into consumers looking for travel information online and to provide them with something that would inspire them to a different way of travelling.
• The Grantoutismo itinerary that includes Marrakesh, Spain, Paris, Montenegro, Puglia, Sardinia, Venice, Asia, Indonesia, New York, Austin Texas, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, South America, Kenya and back to Europe in January 2011.
• The trends that Lara sees in travel writing and blogging, with the recession hitting traditional media, leading to travel writers exploring new ways of working on line.
• Sarah Chamber’s view that more travel companies are promoting themselves through inspirational content on-line and will be experimenting with approaches like the Grantourismo project.
• You can follow Lara and Terry’s progress at Grantourismo and on Twitter @gran_tourismo
• You can find holiday apartments like those Lara and Terry are staying in at HomeAway Holiday-Rentals
• To subscribe to all my podcasts in ITunes click here

Other Podcasts to enjoy

06 Weekend in London at the Mandarin Oriental
05 An Autumn weekend in Lisbon
04 Visiting the Munich Christmas Markets
03 Ecuador and the Amazon Rainforest
02 My Istria Travel Diary

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