Talking about the Austrian travel trade show “ReiseSalon” 2013 is a pretty business. For the second time this year, it was held in the mighty imperial halls of the Vienna Hofburg – a splendid framework and easily one of the most beautiful venues in the whole country. I was headed there together with my hotel partners of “Genuss Reisen Österreich” and “Kreativ Reisen Österreich“, two marketing associations focusing on food & creative travel in Austria. Besides, what came as a pleasant surprise was that I was going to represent the new travel blogger industry in the country there. “Günter Exel, of TravelLive, said that we should absolutely have you here on stage speaking”, jolly radio moderator Peter Agathakis calls me two weeks ahead of the speaking gig “Travel Bloggers & Travel Journalists” at the ReiseSalon travel trade show. “I will ask you about your background, your travel expertise, but also something more provocative like: ‘Ten years from now, print journalism will be dead. What do you think about that’?” Of course, an introduction like this gets me all ears, and naturally I agree to take part in the discussion. What a promising event the “ReiseSalon” shapes up to be!
The travel trade show ReiseSalon set inside the imperial Hofburg attracts thousands of interested visitors this year.
Here on stage, the so-called “Salongespräche” travel talks take place: This year, including me as a panel discussion speaker about such an exciting topic as the “future of travel writing – travel bloggers & travel journalists”.
Peter Agathakis, our “show master”, takes care of an excellent and focused moderation of the panel discussion.
A special word of thanks also goes to Mrs Neumeister-Böck of n.b.s. hotels & locations, who together with her team has initiated and organised the “new” travel trade show “ReiseSalon” in Vienna, now in its second year.
For the first time this year, the “ReiseSalon” had been accompanied by a so-called “GourmetSalon”, showcasing the best of local Austrian produce such as Lower Austrian cherry brand, chutney and mustard.
“ReiseSalon” 2013: Creative Travel, Gourmet Food Travel – a truly exclusive travel trade show highlighting excellent (inter)national travel industry members
What exaclty is it that makes the travel trade show ReiseSalon, and in particular its location, so special? To me, it is the unique combination of Austrian imperial splendour (the chandeliers, the tall rooms, the riches in decorative details that convey a feeling that the Emperor Franz Josef himself would walk around the corner at any time) with the modern-style travel booths that embrace and enthrall visitors. It was at the same time overly beautiful and yet very comfortable, “cosy” (“gemütlich”) as we Austrians like to say. Especially in the ceremony hall, which was exclusively held for Austrian exhibitors. As project manager for the Austrian travel association “Creative Tourism Austria“, I was involved in the whole coordination of our partner hotels at the “ReiseSalon” travel trade show, as travel blogger “Creativelena” serving a double function and launching myself into the speaking gig.
Walking up to the entrance of the travel trade show “ReiseSalon”, you take the same imperial staircase as the imperial family about 100 years ago. Amazing!
This is a look at the travel trade show booths in the ceremonial hall, where all the Austrian exhibitors gathered. Cosy yet impressive, don’t you think?
In addition to travel, this year the “GourmetSalon” opened its doors with lots of exclusive, Austrian gourmet delights such as nuts, cheeses, hams, chutneys, brandies, wines …
… inviting you to stop, linger, make small talk and of course, TASTE …
… even encouraging dear friends & gourmet travel bloggers from Germany, Monika Fuchs of TravelWorldOnline, to travel all the way to Vienna to participate and check out the Christmas markets at the same time.
Networking and meeting new business partners is one of the main features of this exclusive travel trade show.
Radio stations ask, travel journalists answer. And travel bloggers? They tweet, film & photograph in real time. Including immediate aftermath blog publications …
… that are being shared, “liked”, commented again, hereby successfully continuing the panel discussion online. Where professional travel bloggers differ from say, print journalists, is that we have to “be able to do it all. Travel bloggers are journalists are proof-reading editors are graphic designers are photographers are video producers are search engine optimisers are networking & Social Media experts, and a lot more”, is what I mention during my speech introducing the work of travel bloggers. My Austrian colleague Günter Exel of TravelLive confirmed me in this, demonstrating his “TravelLive campaigns” by recording (and sharing) a live video on Vine about the discussion while speaking.
The Internet offers everybody the opportunity for self-publication. All the more, crucial values such as quality, professionalism and reliability are expected and need to be developed – concerning our readers as well as the media we choose to publish. In this context, I would like to quote my colleague & partner Claudius Rajchl, himself a longtime travel journalist & video specialist: “If the same or similar content is published through an established newspaper or magazine or on a blog, the newspaper is still ranked as much more trustworthy than the blog.” I can certainly understand where he is coming from. After all, why does an established newspaper or magazine rank as trustworthy? Because it works hard on its quality (image, design, photo or article editors, etc.). However, it now stands to be argued that more and more successful online (travel) writers are doing exactly that, and much faster and better networked in their own, growing online communities. This, in turn, is what Google likes to see. And continues to rank blogs high up in search engines – thanks to “Google Authorship” & Co.!
Off we go: Shortly ahead of the discussion, Günter Exel shows me how he is going to monitor and spread the upcoming panel discussion live via Twitter!
Travel journalist Frido Hütter (left) as well as Robert Kropf (Insiderei.com) both listen carefully to what is being said and discussed, moderated by Peter Agathakis …
… Claudius Rajchl, successful travel journalist working for one of Austria’s largest daily newspapers the KURIER, and recently launched into his own (online) video productions on RajchlReist.tv …
… Peter Agathakis does not tire to stimulate critical debate. After all, we all make a point of successful partnerships as a way forward, embracing both worlds of print and online travel media …
… I would like to say my word of THANKYOU for this opportunity to profile bloggers here. My tip: Dare say your word. Several interested people came up to me right after the panel discussion, new interesting cooperation opportunities are up – dear fellow travel writers, the world is open (and curious) 
Thank you all who took part in making this panel discussion at the ReiseSalon travel trade show in Vienna such a success, @rajchlreist, @insiderei, @guenterexel! I look forward to all of your feedback and hopefully many more stimulating and interesting discussions about quality & professionalism of online travel writers in Austria and abroad.
2 comments
Good discussion about Bloggers & Journalists….
The problem of journalists is that they are conditioned to editorial guidelines coming from economic & politic factors. So journalists do not have 100% freedom to publish their work while bloggers have more flexibility to be more creative.
However, blogs are less trusted by the public because they are considered a non official source whereas traditional media keeps having more prestige and reputation.
Bloggers can publish faster than traditional media and live up to the same quality standards, but they need more time to build their audiences, I believe.
Hi Maximo,
Thank you for taking the time to study my article and come up with a comment as interesting and varied as yours. I certainly agree that bloggers have more flexibility at their hands, and that they can choose just how creative they choose each post, article or video to be.
Certainly, too, it stands to argue that online travel writers will need time to build that trusted brand feeling that established newspapers and magazines convey. Which is why the next few years will be so interesting to see what happens
I really look forward to a (promising!) future !!