You may see your Instagram feed flooded with enticing images of the Costa Brava this week as many of the world’s biggest travel bloggers have been in town for TBEX. But while the beach parties and catamaran trips at Lloret de Mar provided immediate content, the two day conference was focussed on a deeper question of how to build long term sustainable businesses. It was about the future of an industry that has recently gone through adolescence, and is now thinking about relationships says Trips 100 Commissioning Editor Kirstie Pelling…

Picture this. A candlelit beach. A fairy lit terrace. A chef cooking your favourite food. Champagne on tap. And a question about whether you would prefer a one night stand or a long term relationship? What are you going to say?

The travel bloggers were saying they wanted to put a ring on it.

A match made for life

From the keynote speakers to the community builders, the theme cropped up again and again at TBEX 2015. Are you in this market for a quick press trip, for the long term, or for life? And who will you choose to go on that journey with you?

It came up in relation to working with brands; make wise choices, don’t sell yourself short, develop sustainable partnerships rather than a string of cheap romances. And it came up in relation to building a following; be 100% valuable to your reader, become their trusted life partner.

A different kind of romance

Four years ago, when I started attending travel conferences, it was very different. Back then, it was a case of legging it around Excel offering yourself to any suitor, (press officers and DMO’s preferred) in the hope of bagging a free press trip and having a week away together. Because in an industry very much in its infancy, that was all that was on offer. But now travel bloggers have grown up. They have matured and found themselves and their voices in the ruins of Petra or the narrow streets of Puglia. They have something to offer brands and tourist boards. They are valuing themselves and their blogs. And the more experienced ones are definitely getting choosier about who they agree to partner with.

Partnerships are the thing

There was something of a ‘show not tell’ element to this event. We were all in Costa Brava due to the long term relationship between TBEX and the Costa Brava; it was the second time TBEX had come to the region in two years. “We do it for engagement,” said Jaume Marin in his welcome, proposing a marriage to the hundreds of bloggers in the room in one sweep.  The opening keynote featured a long term partnership between travel blogger Nelson Carvalheiro and Jose Borralho from the Portuguese Culinary Tourism Association and described how they were boosting food tourism in the country through their work together.

Matchmaking interests and values

The blogger relationship with brands and tourist boards was then taken up by Heather Cowper and Gary Bembridge. In their ‘Moving from Press Trip to Paid Campaign’ talk they outlined more than a dozen unique partnerships between brands and bloggers, all working at a commercial level. They asked everyone in the room to imagine they were romancing the same brand or DMO. “What is it you can do and offer? Match what they are willing to pay for with your creativity, your niche, your skills.”

Meanwhile, in a nearby room, Katie Hammel, Viator Commissioning Editor was telling delegates how to start a relationship with brands. She shared a tip that perhaps shouldn’t need spelling out? -“Tell me your name in your pitch letter. I’m not going to e-mail you back and say ‘Hi, Travel Gal.’ It endears me to you more if I know your first name.”

In his seminar on Friday afternoon, tech guerrilla Matt Ridings shared his research on the specifics of engaging and attracting millennials in a long term relationship. “Use human subjects related to the story. Personalise, personalise, personalise.” And look for opportunities for this in every post. “If you are building a list post, wrap that list in a personal point of view.” He advised using emotional keywords in H1 and H2 to catch their attention and concluded that a picture is still worth 1000 words -something that every online dating site user is very well aware of. On Saturday Caleb Wojcik echoed the theme of personalisation above professional polish in his video talk ‘How to make great and engaging travel videos by yourself. “Embrace the DIY and shaky cameras and concentrate on the story. Think beginning and middle and end.”

Robot love

Keynote Saturday speaker Michael Collins had a worrying announcement about the new emerging knights on white chargers going for our audiences. “There are robot journalists out there. Robot bloggers.” He shared information about travel websites producing 3000 articles a day using robots. And about @hitchbot travelling around the world attracting 34k thousand followers. “Is anyone threatened? I hear yes!” And Hitchbot is clever. “He speaks German. Can anyone here do that? If I’m a tourist board I’m thinking I want Hitchbot to come to my country.” He said the challenge is to make your content relevant. To both industry and reader. To build a relationship that the airlines and big corporations encroaching on your space can’t. He ended with an upbeat message. “One thing won’t change. Good content is always going to be read and shared.”

The future is ours

In retrospect this conference was all about the future. Earl at Wandering Earl advised “Focus on long term business growth rather than short term gain. Ask if it benefits your readers. If not 100% then push it away. Build a world and be substantial.” Dave Bouskill from The Planet D emphasised longevity and audience are more important than making quick money in ‘Leveraging the brand beyond the blog.’  Perhaps keynote end speaker Katja Presnal best summed up the mood by asking people if they really wanted a one night stand.

So do you? Put your answer in your profile. And don’t forget to attach a pic.