It’s been a while since I posted an update with news specifically about the blog, so I thought I’d take a quick hour out of my day to share a few new developments, firstly by mentioning one or two nice pieces of recognition that I’ve been receiving.
In the last couple of months, I’ve been shortlisted for two different awards. One was for ‘Blog of the Year’ in the inaugual sit-UP Awards from Travmedia (the ‘sit’ in sit-UP stands for Social / Influencer Travel) and another, more recent one is for Best Luxury Travel Travel Blog in the Teletext Holidays Blog Awards. The winner of this latter award will be nominated for the British Travel Awards’ brand-new Blogger Award, sponsored by Teletext Holidays.
To add to this, Vuelio – a leading provider of software for the PR and communications industry – today updated their top 10 UK luxury travel blogs round-up, and I am pleased to see we are still sitting in position #1 on there. Vuelio’s blog ranking methodology takes into consideration social sharing, topic-related content and post frequency.
Here’s what they had to say:
1. A Luxury Travel Blog
Settled in first class, it’s A Luxury Travel Blog. The blog was originally created by Dr Paul Johnson and he is now joined by a team of 600 writers and guest bloggers who provide information on the most luxurious hotels and resorts around the world. A Luxury Travel Blog is perfect for anyone looking to add a touch of class to their travels, from the best destinations to visit on a private yacht to the perfect honeymoon destinations for any couple. With 30 years’ experience in the travel industry, Paul is an expert when it comes to discovering unspoilt gems across the globe, the finest restaurants and the most glamorous hotels.
On a different note, public speaking has never really been ‘my bag’ and, having avoided it wherever possible in the past, I’ve been finding that I’m being asked to do it more and more. I broke my silence with an event for the Tokyo stand at World Travel Market last November, where I was asked to talk about ‘The hidden Tokyo‘, and have since spoken at Travmedia’s sit-UP conference in London as well as at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.
At sit-UP, I was part of a panel discussion talking about the merits of the different key social networks out there, and was tasked with making a case for Twitter. At the Arabian Travel Market, I was involved in two panel discussions – one with Shane Dallas from The Travel Camel titled ‘How to positively change the perception of destinations using the power of social media’ and another with Matt Gibson from UpThink (pictured above doing a Facebook Live interview with me after the session) titled ‘How to gain a career in digital marketing: tips & recommendations from the pros’.
I still wouldn’t say it’s part of my normal comfort zone, but it does seem to get a little easier the more you do it!
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.
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23 Comments
Good to see that you are growing in confidence with the Public Speaking! I’m afraid that in the world we live in it is something that is required of everyone more and more. It seems that almost everyone’s job requires them to be able to speak like a professional.
I would describe it more as ‘becoming less unconfident’ (if that’s a word) rather than ‘growing in confidence’! :)
An experienced public speaker (who quietly divulged he is still filled with an element of dread every time he does it) recently said to me to just accept every speaking invitation and that, by doing it more and more, it becomes less of an issue.
I have two tips for successful public speaking. Pour yourself a stiff whisky. Then pour yourself another stiff whisky. Whatever happens you will enjoy the occasion and think that it was a brilliant speech.
That might work if I liked whisky… ;-)
I’m told that Gin is equally effective. Wasn’t there a post recently about a distillery where you could design your own gin? Surely that’s the perfect answer.
I’m not surprised that A Luxury Travel Blog has been short-listed for the awards. I try to take a look at it two or three times a week. In my eyes what makes it so special is the global spread, you are covering virtually every continent. As well as that you’ve got lots of different writers with different styles and perspectives. Long may it continue.
Thank you, Liz… that’s very kind. We do have a very diverse mix here which I think is healthy. Long may you keep reading!
I’m a travel addict so have dipped into a lot of travel blogs. The trouble with a lot of them is that it’s the same voice all the time whereas with ALTB everyday and every post is different.
In the main I understand Vuelio’s criteria for success, however, I am intrigued by the term “topic-related content.”
I understand that one would want a blog that largely sticks to luxury travel. However, some of the most enjoyable articles that I have read, on any subject, have often been highly left-field and original.
Hi Gerald… Vuelio produce a number of different blogger lists, covering every subject imaginable – they’ve produced everything from top fashion blogs, top political blogs, top parenting blogs and many more. I suppose all they’re really saying they is that they are grouping blogs by the topic that they are primarily about. If a parenting blog writes mostly tips about raising children, and then just happens to do one blog post about a luxury family holiday they take, I think it would be fair to say that, however good that article might be, that that wouldn’t make it qualify as a luxury travel blog (just in the same way as if I was to happen to do one post about how to make travelling with children easier, that wouldn’t make me qualify as a parenting blog). Hopefully that makes sense! :)
At the moment I just don’t have the money for much luxury travel but I still love the blog. It gives me something to look forward to. One day maybe I’ll be able to afford these super adventures.
Hi Zoe… thanks for dropping. Don’t forget that luxury travel doesn’t necessarily have to mean expensive. For example, you might find this posts interesting/useful:
A friend of mine who is a very successful entrepreneur sums things up like this. “When you are ahead of the rest of the field you have a choice. Do you keep on doing what you are doing because it has got you out front? Or do you change to do something extra or different so that the rest of the field can’t catch you?”
Paul, whilst you are ahead, what’s your thinking on that one?
I think this is very much an industry that, if you keep on doing what you’re doing, you very much get left behind. It’s fast changing, with new ways of doing things and new opportunities continually being presented. When I started this blog, there was no Facebook (at least, not a version that was open to all), no Twitter and certainly no Instagram. If I didn’t adapt and embrace the opportunities presented by these different social media, I would languishing a long way behind for sure!
For me ALTB is my mindfulness app. Ten minutes reading about luxury escapes helps me switch off work stresses. Keep it going. I need it.
Thank you, Sally… we try to intersperse the text with plenty of good quality imagery whilst at the same time hopefully not adding too much to the time that each page takes to load. All our pictures tend to be well under 200KB which is not that bad in the scale of things…
I think that the discussion on “How to positively change the perception of destinations using the power of social media” is vital for many destinations. If a destination suffers a terrorist attack visitors tend to stay away long after the authorities have dealt with the threat.
I have just returned from a destination that has suffered attacks, and the security was very impressive indeed, that’s where social media can play an important role.
Yes, we had a member of the Jordan Tourism Board on the panel also, talking about how they tend to work with solo female travellers to show that Jordan is safe to visit, even for lone females. I think they have done a good job with achieving this, but I guess there is always more that can be done.
As for destinations that have suffered attacks, sometimes the safest times to visit such places is quite soon after these events, when everyone tends to be super-vigilant and security is often at its tightest. That said, whether you can still get flights to the said destination could be an issue, plus it takes a brave (or foolish?) person to travel against the advice issued by their own country’s travel advisory bodies.
One of the things I like about A Luxury Travel Blog is that it uses that old-fashioned medium of words. People will argue that films will give you the cameraman’s take on a place. What I like about traditional writing is that it gives the writer the best chance to explain how they feel about a place. Though nothing wrong with the occasional clip of film.
In the last couple of months, I’ve been shortlisted for two different awards. One was for ‘Blog of the Year’ in the inaugual sit-UP Awards from Travmedia (the ‘sit’ in sit-UP stands for Social / Influencer Travel) and another, more recent one is for Best Luxury Travel Travel Blog in the Teletext Holidays Blog Awards. The winner of this latter award will be nominated for the British Travel Awards’ brand-new Blogger Award, sponsored by Teletext Holidays.
In the last couple of months, I’ve been shortlisted for two different awards. One was for ‘Blog of the Year’ in the inaugual sit-UP Awards from Travmedia (the ‘sit’ in sit-UP stands for Social / Influencer Travel) and another, more recent one is for Best Luxury Travel Travel Blog in the Teletext Holidays Blog Awards. The winner of this latter award will be nominated for the British Travel Awards’ brand-new Blogger Award, sponsored by Teletext Holidays.
To add to this, Vuelio – a leading provider of software for the PR and communications industry – today updated their top 10 UK luxury travel blogs round-up, and I am pleased to see we are still sitting in position #1 on there. Vuelio’s blog ranking methodology takes into consideration social sharing, topic-related content and post frequency.
Here’s what they had to say:
At sit-UP, I was part of a panel discussion talking about the merits of the different key social networks out there, and was tasked with making a case for Twitter. At the Arabian Travel Market, I was involved in two panel discussions – one with Shane Dallas from The Travel Camel titled ‘How to positively change the perception of destinations using the power of social media’ and another with Matt Gibson from UpThink (pictured above doing a Facebook Live interview with me after the session) titled ‘How to gain a career in digital marketing: tips & recommendations from the pros’.
I still wouldn’t say it’s part of my normal comfort zone, but it does seem to get a little easier the more you do it!
Good to see that you are growing in confidence with the Public Speaking! I’m afraid that in the world we live in it is something that is required of everyone more and more. It seems that almost everyone’s job requires them to be able to speak like a professional.
I would describe it more as ‘becoming less unconfident’ (if that’s a word) rather than ‘growing in confidence’! :)
An experienced public speaker (who quietly divulged he is still filled with an element of dread every time he does it) recently said to me to just accept every speaking invitation and that, by doing it more and more, it becomes less of an issue.
I have two tips for successful public speaking. Pour yourself a stiff whisky. Then pour yourself another stiff whisky. Whatever happens you will enjoy the occasion and think that it was a brilliant speech.
That might work if I liked whisky… ;-)
I’m told that Gin is equally effective. Wasn’t there a post recently about a distillery where you could design your own gin? Surely that’s the perfect answer.
I’m not surprised that A Luxury Travel Blog has been short-listed for the awards. I try to take a look at it two or three times a week. In my eyes what makes it so special is the global spread, you are covering virtually every continent. As well as that you’ve got lots of different writers with different styles and perspectives. Long may it continue.
Thank you, Liz… that’s very kind. We do have a very diverse mix here which I think is healthy. Long may you keep reading!
I’m a travel addict so have dipped into a lot of travel blogs. The trouble with a lot of them is that it’s the same voice all the time whereas with ALTB everyday and every post is different.
Thanks, Judy! :-)
In the main I understand Vuelio’s criteria for success, however, I am intrigued by the term “topic-related content.”
I understand that one would want a blog that largely sticks to luxury travel. However, some of the most enjoyable articles that I have read, on any subject, have often been highly left-field and original.
Hi Gerald… Vuelio produce a number of different blogger lists, covering every subject imaginable – they’ve produced everything from top fashion blogs, top political blogs, top parenting blogs and many more. I suppose all they’re really saying they is that they are grouping blogs by the topic that they are primarily about. If a parenting blog writes mostly tips about raising children, and then just happens to do one blog post about a luxury family holiday they take, I think it would be fair to say that, however good that article might be, that that wouldn’t make it qualify as a luxury travel blog (just in the same way as if I was to happen to do one post about how to make travelling with children easier, that wouldn’t make me qualify as a parenting blog). Hopefully that makes sense! :)
At the moment I just don’t have the money for much luxury travel but I still love the blog. It gives me something to look forward to. One day maybe I’ll be able to afford these super adventures.
Hi Zoe… thanks for dropping. Don’t forget that luxury travel doesn’t necessarily have to mean expensive. For example, you might find this posts interesting/useful:
https://www.aluxurytravelblog.com/2018/02/07/10-ways-to-make-luxury-travel-more-affordable/
Paul
A friend of mine who is a very successful entrepreneur sums things up like this. “When you are ahead of the rest of the field you have a choice. Do you keep on doing what you are doing because it has got you out front? Or do you change to do something extra or different so that the rest of the field can’t catch you?”
Paul, whilst you are ahead, what’s your thinking on that one?
I think this is very much an industry that, if you keep on doing what you’re doing, you very much get left behind. It’s fast changing, with new ways of doing things and new opportunities continually being presented. When I started this blog, there was no Facebook (at least, not a version that was open to all), no Twitter and certainly no Instagram. If I didn’t adapt and embrace the opportunities presented by these different social media, I would languishing a long way behind for sure!
For me ALTB is my mindfulness app. Ten minutes reading about luxury escapes helps me switch off work stresses. Keep it going. I need it.
Haha… thank you, Helen! :-)
I really like the format. Some information and then lots of pictures. After all a picture’s worth a thousand words.
Thank you, Sally… we try to intersperse the text with plenty of good quality imagery whilst at the same time hopefully not adding too much to the time that each page takes to load. All our pictures tend to be well under 200KB which is not that bad in the scale of things…
I think that the discussion on “How to positively change the perception of destinations using the power of social media” is vital for many destinations. If a destination suffers a terrorist attack visitors tend to stay away long after the authorities have dealt with the threat.
I have just returned from a destination that has suffered attacks, and the security was very impressive indeed, that’s where social media can play an important role.
Yes, we had a member of the Jordan Tourism Board on the panel also, talking about how they tend to work with solo female travellers to show that Jordan is safe to visit, even for lone females. I think they have done a good job with achieving this, but I guess there is always more that can be done.
As for destinations that have suffered attacks, sometimes the safest times to visit such places is quite soon after these events, when everyone tends to be super-vigilant and security is often at its tightest. That said, whether you can still get flights to the said destination could be an issue, plus it takes a brave (or foolish?) person to travel against the advice issued by their own country’s travel advisory bodies.
One of the things I like about A Luxury Travel Blog is that it uses that old-fashioned medium of words. People will argue that films will give you the cameraman’s take on a place. What I like about traditional writing is that it gives the writer the best chance to explain how they feel about a place. Though nothing wrong with the occasional clip of film.
Thank you, Dave… I’m glad you are enjoying the blog! :-)