What is a press trip?
A quick guide on press trips
A press trip is a study trip organised by a brand. Journalists, travel bloggers and other content creators often get invited on press trips to experience the brand, its products or its destination. By joining a press trip, those journalists, travel bloggers and content creators can write about the brand based on their own experience.
Hi, I’m Lot and I have over a decade of experience in the world of travel bloggers and content creators. I often get asked about my job. People ask me what a press trip, if press trips are free or how you get invited on a press trip. So I thought I’d just answer all questions in this article. Here we go!
Are press trips free?
The costs of a press trip are carried by the brand, but that doesn’t mean a press trip is “free”. A press trip is first and foremost a work trip. Much like a business trip, a press trip is often cost-free for its participants, but participants are expected to work during the trip.
Before online media sprung to live, press trips where exclusive for (travel) journalists, who usually worked for media outlets. Those journalists were salaried. Freelance journalists got paid for the articles they wrote based on those press trips.
With the rise of online media, brands started to invite bloggers and content creators for press trips. Independent bloggers or content creators do not have a media outlet that pays for their articles. Often the press trip is considered “payment” for their work. Which is not really fair, but hey, online media is fairly new and we are all still figuring it out.
Is a press trip a holiday?
Press trips are most certainly not holidays. They are work trips. Participants are expected to take notes, take interviews, make photographs and critically review the brand they work with. They have to pay attention to everything that is being said and shown, all day long.
When a brand invites professionals for a trip, they usually cover all the expenses. This can be quite expensive for a brand, so you can easily understand they want to make good use of every minute. Because of that, press trips are usually packed with visits and activities from early morning until late in the evening. Participants often work 14 hours or even more per day.
If you are looking for a free holiday, press trips are not for you. You are not free to do and see what you want, you have to follow the agreed upon program.
Are press trips advertisement?
Yes, press trips are advertisement in a way. When journalists or bloggers write about a brand or a destinations, it is exposure for the brand or destination. It is the brand that decides what the participants see and experiences. However, most journalists and bloggers are ethical and write critically from their own experience.
Is a press trip the same thing as a fam trip?
Press trip and fam trips, or familiarisation trips, are often confused, but they are not the same thing. Press trips are for journalists and content creators. The goal of a press trip is to experience a brand or destination with the aim of writing about it or creating content about it. Fam trips are usually for professionals who work for or with the brand to experience the product they sell first-hand. For example, travel agents who sell a certain destination, go on fam trips to inspect the hotels, activities and restaurants of that destination. By doing this, they get to know the product better, which helps them sell it.
Who organizes press trips?
Press trips are usually organized by touristic brands, which we also call tourism boards. The goal of such a trip is to let journalists and bloggers experience the destination, so they write about it from experience.
Are press trip only organized by destinations?
No, they are not. Press trips are often organized by touristic brands, like travel companies of destinations, but other brands organize press trips, too. Think about a fashion brand that invites journalists and content creators to their fashion shows. Or think about an outdoor brand that invites journalists and content creators to experience their products on location.
There are many reasons why brands organize a press trip, but the concept is the same: they invite press on a trip so they can write from experience about the brand.
Are press trips fun?
It depends on what you think is fun. I think it is quite fun to experience a destination as a travel blogger. I often get to experience and see things that are less know. I get to see the undiscovered gems, I get to meet people from all over the world. Press trips are often group trips, which means you travel with people who do the same job as you do, which can be a lot of fun.
But, to be honest, press trips can be absolutely exhausting. You are visiting as much as possible in only a few days. You have no time to rest, no time to do anything else. Press trips are all consuming. Fun, but exhausting.
Usually, participants know very quickly if a press trip is something they enjoy. Some instantly love it, others hate it.
How do you get invited for a press trip?
Press trips are invitation only. You can not just join a press trip. You have to be a journalist or a content creator with the right niche and the right audience. But, it helps if you know the sector and the mechanisms.
I wrote a Master Class on working with brands for travel bloggers. In the chapter “Press Trips 101”, I exclusively talk about press trips. I explain you how you get invited to press trips, how you should behave on press trips and what you can expect when you join a press trip. You can find the Master Class here.
And, good news, you can buy “Press Trips 101” as a stand-alone chapter. That means you do not have to invest in the full Master Class if you don’t want to. You can find the stand-alone chapters here.
