Comments on: Why we need more celebrity travel journalism

By: Simon

Simon — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:24:59 +0000

I’m not sure I really agree with the tv comparison – I quite enjoyed Robson Green’s Wild Swimming! He was obviously commissioned to do this show on the basis that he is a tv personality and tv is his medium. Which I think is fair enough.

The issue with travel writing is slightly different, in that the celebrities are commissioned to write an article with very little evidence that they an actually write much more than their autograph.

By: Simon

Simon — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:32:53 +0000

From the other side I’ve had celebs in resort who have been less than charming to the staff because it’s not their bread and butter and they are just treating it as a free holiday or a PR opportunity.

For an operator it has its pitfalls. In theory you get more exposure but they often don’t play “the game”. The resulting piece invariably is about them and not the destination.

An operator I was with paid for a reasonably well known author to go to Greece with his family for the Grauniad and although the piece got plenty of space he didn’t mention the resort once. It was very useful if you wanted to read 2,000 words about his divorce though.

By: David

David — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:11:18 +0000

Cheryl: but they’re proper celebrities who have done something notable with their lives. And you’re also picking subjects that they may be reasonably qualified to talk about.

The whole point of the celebrity travel genre is that it’s complete nonentities (my list is of utter Z-listers even in Britain) talking about something they know nothing about. And the article being sold on name alone.

By: Cheryl Probst

Cheryl Probst — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:37:26 +0000

how about some articles by celebrities that I’ve heard of — there’s a definite generation gap here, David!

My suggestions:

Great Italian/French/African eateries by Meryl Streep
Coastal California nightspots by Clint Eastwood
Best places to stay in Park, Utah, by Robert Redford
The world’s best opera houses by Julio Iglesias

By: Annie Bennett

Annie Bennett — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:53:54 +0000

And it’s not just UK celebs… El Pais today is running a story on why pop group La Oreja de Van Gogh, who happen to have a new album out (probably on Spotify if you can muster the enthusiasm), love San Sebastian, where they’re from: “It’s a lovely place and the people are really nice”. And they recommend staying at the super posh and very well-known Hotel Maria Cristina (upwards of €300 a night). What a tip! And if you can’t run to that? “Sleep on the beach”.

By: Vicky Baker

Vicky Baker — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:32:54 +0000

An experienced travel writer once told me how he failed to get commission from a national after hearing these fateful words: “Sorry, Cheryl Baker is doing it”. How depressing.

By: not a celebrity

not a celebrity — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:50:28 +0000

the proof is in the pudding…

people read them

By: benji lanyado

benji lanyado — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:17:11 +0000

Very good.

By: David Atkinson

David Atkinson — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:16:28 +0000

Of course, none of these so-called stories are, I imagine, actually wriiten by the talentless D-list dipshit taking the trip. The are cobbled together by subs from a press release after the freeloading gimp has thrown a hissy fit in the spa and run up a huge bar tab. PRs reading this: tell us, why do you sanction these stories. Personally, I find them to be nothing short of an insult to my intelligence. It makes me want to avoid your resort/hotel/spa etc. Or is that just me?

By: Mike Gerrard

Mike Gerrard — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:33:24 +0000

“Ruth Madoc on why Prague is the new Amsterdam.”

Someone commission it at once! Or have I read it already? It’s hard to know.

As a travel writer myself, I had insult added to injury once when I happened to have a travel piece published in the same issue of a Sunday tabloid as a celebrity writer. By some machinery mishap, his cheque was caught up in the envelope with my cheque and I received them both. It was for £1500, when my fee for a similar piece was £300.