Last year TBEX Asia took place in Thailand and one of my Blogger Friends, Mariellen Ward was presenting there. During her research, she approached some of the travel bloggers from India and I was one of them. I also thought of sharing all my responses here on my blog and would love to hear your opinions through comments -
A) Please write a short bio about you / your blog / your
company. Bloggers: include blog name and link, social media
platforms, niche or area of specialty
Hi, I am VJ Sharma and
blogging since 2008 at www.Travelingcamera.com. My passion for Travel & Photography drove me
to start this blog, where I used to share
my learning, experiences and guides from my trips & photography
assignments. Gradually this blog is liked by friends, family and helped me gain
good amount of followers. Now I blog everyday and have good engagement at –
1. Who in India do you think is doing a good job to
promote travel & tourism online (please give specific examples):
a. brands, companies,
hotels, resorts, airlines
b. destinations and tourism
boards
c. travel bloggers, writers,
photographers, videographers
d. blogging organizations
(such as IndiBlogger, BlogAdda, BlogMint)
VJ: Most
inspiring stuff is happening through individuals and the power of social media.
Digital Photography has enabled every traveller to share their photographs on
social media which in turn inspires lot of folks to travel to those
destinations. I am talking about promotions within India. Apart from that,
Bollywood movies are very inspiring to inspire. Places like Goa, Leh, Kerala are
popular because of movies and smaller destinations like Palampur, Kasauli,
Mussourie are also known to many through Bollywood movies. Blogging community
is helping in discovering new destinations. There are lot of new places which
are introduced by bloggers.
2. What do you think can be done online to increase
both India's reputation as a tourist destination and the numbers of inbound
tourists who visit India? Can travel bloggers play a role?
VJ: We
should encourage travellers to keep our places clean and make them feel
responsible. Green travel is most important need of India. Travellingcamera.com
has taken an initiative wherein we try to collaborate with local communities,
NGOs, hotels to do a cleanliness drive whenever we plan to travel. Some time,
we get good response and at times all our offers are rejected. I pledge to
focus more on these activities. I expose my readers to lot of least known
places in hills and I feel responsible if they become dirty places like many
Indian tourist destinations. So I need to think twice before introducing a
place to people.
3. What changes would you like to see in India to
help travel bloggers improve, gain visibility and make a living from
professional travel blogging?
VJS: Travel
bloggers, especially the ones who are known and well established, need to take
a strong stand against free associations. It’s important for blogger community
to unite and value their skills & reputation they have built as
influencers. And use their influence for right things and at right value.
1. What do you think the biggest challenges travel bloggers
face in India in terms of the following:
a. Improving skills
b. Gaining exposure
c. Becoming professional and
getting paid
VJS: Becoming
professional and getting paid is huge challenge in India. Since there are so
many options, many brands also settle for lower quality. Of course, everyone
has different budget and skill-set, but general tendency of getting things done
for free is harmful. PR agencies also play a lot around the same fact. I have
had various discussion with PR folks, where PR firms strongly feel that things
can be get done without paying. Goodies or some sponsored trips can do the job.
I have also done the same in past and feel responsible for the same.
2. What do you think are the biggest opportunities
available for travel bloggers who:
a. Want to improve their
skills
b. Want to become known for
their work
c. Want to become
professionals and get paid to write, blog, take photos and videos?
VJS: Quality
content is still in demand by various publishing companies. If you write well
or photograph brilliantly, you can get good work. But mostly driven by your
core skill or writing or photographing and not as blogging. E.g. – I take
photography assignments, which pay me much more than blogging assignments.
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