What’s so hard about saying “Sorry, but I have to obtain my objectivity”? Any blogger that wants to be taken seriously should be saying that.

I doesn’t mean turning down all sponsorship – as I say above – but it means managing it and negotiating for better terms. And yes, sometimes it may mean turning certain trips down (Not Grantourismo though. Never suggested that!)

Let me get this straight – I’m not criticising Grantourismo. Quite the opposite.

My point is: companies want/need bloggers voices now so bloggers have more bargaining chips than they realise.

I doubt if many journalists or bloggers would turn down this kind of opportunity saying ‘ Sorry, but I have to obtain my independence & objectivity’. It’s always a balancing act.

I think it’s a sign that blogging is coming of age & moving into the mainstream.

It’s actually been a bit of a joint effort. We have been reaching out to owners in the destinations we wanted to cover ask who would be interested in hosting Lara & Terry, and then Lara & Terry have been looking through the selections and choosing the ones they felt were right fit. The idea was not just to cover a variety of destinations, but also a good variety of homes too – to give a good view of the choice available, so it has been quite a time-consuming, but very interesting and exciting task!

Best regards,

Sarah

And that’s a good article by Kevin May about HomeAway ‘putting faith in objectivity’.

And, besides all this, I do think it’s great to be opening up more travellers to the idea of renting a house and ‘going local’. Just the other day I was talking to a traveller who always used to spend extended periods in hotels, and then he discovered short-term apartment lets. He hasn’t looked back.

I’m sure this sector will continue to grow and grow.

Great post – for me, you’ve hit the nail on the head when you say “Yes, they’ve landed a great gig and yes they’re going to have an amazing time, but there is going to be a lot of good, practical advice and interesting travel debates to come out of this too.” – For us, this is exactly the point of the project, to provide useful, engaging content for travellers that shows them a new way to travel and exemplifies how renting a holiday home is one way to do this. Something I believe many travellers are yet to discover. Holiday homes are already hugely popular with a large and growing number of people, but there is still a long way to go too. There is very limited ‘top of mind’ awareness about this way of holidaying, and yet there is such a huge range of properties to choose from now, catering for so many different types of holiday and experience.

So this is the objective of Grantourismo; to address that lack of knowledge and awareness. And for me, the creation of interesting and informative content that inspires people is the way forward. Who better to provide that than seasoned, experienced travel writers who can tell travel stories in a compelling and moving way? As I said in a recent chat with Kevin May of Tnooz, ‘advertorial fluff’ will simply not cut it, and that is absolutely not what we want; hence why Lara & Terry have complete editorial control. Yes, there is of course a marketing objective for this, but for all of us involved there are very personal ones too. For me, it’s about sharing a great way to travel with those who have not yet discovered it, as I myself had certainly never holidayed in this way before joining HomeAway, and for Lara & Terry, as she says above, it’s about having the chance to slow down and explore some of themes they have been unable to before.

I, for one, can’t wait to see what they’ll discover on their journey.

Sarah

Link to article on Tnooz: http://www.tnooz.com/2010/02/02/news/homeaway-puts-faith-in-objectivity-with-gran-tourismo-project/

I don’t think there is anything more they, or anyone else, can do.

I really don’t know why this is all that controversial. They should be applauded for finding such a great sponsor.