Who are the most influential travel bloggers? That isn’t an easy question to answer, because it’s not just site visits and mainstream media mentions that matter (in fact, those often matter very little). It’s how the blogger influences travelers and the overall industry. And at the end of the day, that’s a pretty subjective thing.
Who better to make that call than yours truly? Here are the most influential travel bloggers of 2007, as I see it. I’m listing them alphabetically:
Mark Ashley (Upgrade: Travel Better). Mark’s blog is a must-read for business travelers. He has terrific news instincts and a good sense of humor about the biz, which serves him well.
Paul Brady (Jaunted). When it comes to travel blogging, can you be hip and influential at the same time? Many have tried. Paul and his crew of bloggers at Jaunted are one of only a few who have pulled it off.
Arthur Frommer (Frommers). The man who brought us Europe on 5 Dollars a Day is already a travel god. Now he’s a blogging travel god. You go, Mr. Frommer.
Holly Hegeman (PlaneBuzz). Holly writes the airline blog. There is nothing more to say.
Wendy Perrin (Perrin Post). Wendy and her friends over at Conde Nast Traveler deliver a nice mix of consumer travel news and destination reports. Plus, it’s a fun read.
Ben Popken (Consumerist). Granted, it’s not a travel blog, but when it covers the travel industry it does it very well, serving up an intriguing mix of insider news, firsthand reports from customers and solid analysis.
Rick Seaney (Rickseaney.com). Take a few supercomputers crunching fare data, an irreverent attitude and right-on blogging instincts and what do you have? The guy behind Farecompare and the only corporate blogger to make this list.
… and here are 7 rising stars who are on track to make next year’s list (If I’m still around to do one):
Joe Brancatelli, who had a good thing going with his Summer of Our Discontent blog, but which only lasted one season. Give us more, Joe!
Peter Greenberg’s site, which is well on its way to becoming an influential blog as well. A recent redesign and more frequent updates make his site worth bookmarking.
Jeanne Leblanc over at the Hartford Courant, whose Coach Class blog isn’t quite a year old but is already the most influential single-author travel blog written by an MSMer.
The group-written Intelligent Travel blog penned by my colleagues at National Geographic Traveler. This blog has recently been re-imagined and is already a must-read for green travelers.
Bill Marriott’s blog, Marriott on the Move. Now there’s a guy who gets podcasting.
Southwest Airlines’ Nuts About Southwest is well on its way to getting it, although I’m also impressed with Delta Air Lines’ new corporate blog.
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Before you ask, no it’s not because I am not included [laughs] but I would have liked to have seen more non-commercial bloggers who are real bloggers not people blogging to market their business. To be frank I am fed up of seeing blog posts like this that are anti anything outside of the USA.
Love reading your blog but come on you do have non US readers you know!
You are totally correct, Darren. I should have called this list the 7 most influential bloggers in 2007 IN THE UNITED STATES. Am a devoted reader of your blog. Perhaps I should do an international list?
My rant was aimed at the fact that most of the bloggers you mention are corporate bloggers.
To me an influential blogger is someone who writes about travel and makes a difference somehow.
Bloggers who are passionate about travel and writes about their home country, or someone who makes you think about issues like the environment, or gives you confidence to get off your backside and travel the world.
I’d have included people like Ian McKenzie of the New Brave Traveler, and César Gonzalez of the Argentina travel blog.
Just an opinion mind :)
It’s not technically a blog but I believe that any discussion about influence that doesn’t include TripAdvisor is an incomplete discussion. Sure, some of the posts read like they were posted by hotel employees but in general, if I want to really know the nitty-gritty of a subject, getting it first-hand from the community is a great option. I read some of your bloggers already, and will read more now, but in my mind, none is as influential as the community at large.
Keep up the good work…
But surely the only B2B media brand (including our blog) in Europe covering the online travel industry – ie Travolution – deserves a mention??!?
:-)
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
Really hurt you didn’t mention
7trilliontravel.blogspot.com
OK ok just kidden
Earl Allen Boek
RobertsResorts.Net
I am a subscriber to several of these blogs, but you’ve introduced a few more new ones that I didn’t previously know. Thanks for the list.
Like Darren Cronian, I would have liked to see more blogs that are non-commercial, and therefore unsubsidized by corporations. I modestly believe that if you had a list of 7 runnersup to the 7 up-and-comers that are right behind the 7 influentials, my Travel-Babel should be on it. I am US-based in the US, but not US-biased. My reasons for immodestly suggesting my “real” blog for your next list of 7 are at http://travel-babel.blogspot.com/2007/11/chris-elliotts-list-of-top-travel-blogs.html.
I am blown away by the success of the above mentioned blogs. Considering there are more than 100-thousand new blogs added to the web every day, it seems nothing short of a miracle for a bloggist to make a Top 10 list. Congratulations!
I love blogging, but I am very new at it and haven’t yet nailed down the formula for getting read, regularly, by lots of people. Soon, I hope. Maybe this is a place to get noticed.
So, here goes…
http://www.visualsbysheree.blogspot.com/,
http://blog.picajet.com/
With high aspirations,
I remain,
Sheree
I guess my blogs have been under the radar. I write one for kids and travel (which I have yet to see one mentioned) and one for euro travelers -check it out see if you like it!
cheers!
JetSetBaby
2ciaos
I’m a month behind here, so I guess no one’s reading comments anymore. But just in case…
I write a blog for and about the active solo traveler. No corporate sponsorship. Not that they’ve come a-knockin’ and I’ve been turning them away. I haven’t gotten around to the business model part yet. I’m just enjoying tell the stories and offering tips and encouragement.
I’m a travel writer published in The Washington Post, the Miami Herald, the Boston Globe, the Denver Post, National Geographic’s recently released “Journeys of a Lifetime” book, and more. See my website at ellenperlman.com
I started a blog because people are always asking me about my solo travels. This seems to be a topic of great interest for people who have never done it. In sum: I highly recommend it. Read the blog and you’ll get a sense of why. http://www.boldlygosolo.com
I am a subscriber to several of these blogs, but you’ve introduced a few more new ones that I didn’t previously know. Thanks for the list.
This blog better guide tour Thailand.
http://thaitravelgo.blogspot.com
What’s the definition of “influential” and how is it determined? Is it a numbers game, as in readership? Or something else?
It seems that a lot of good travel blogs also are narrow. Perhaps covering one area of Italy, say. So, does that limit them from being influential? Or can they be influential in that narrow category?
This is in no way a criticism. Just curious.
I HOPE I’m influential. I’ve had several readers comment that they love the site (boldlygosolo.com) or have gotten ideas for trips from it (learning Spanish in Costa Rica, for instance.) I hope to influence people who want to travel but don’t because they can’t find a companion to go with them. I hope I’ve talked many of them into going anyway.
Now I will bookmark all the sites you mention! Thanks for the info.
I appreciate the labour you have put in developing this blog. Nice and informative.
thanks for sharing !! This entry is so helpful !!
thanks so much; lots more of good reading
Thanks for a lot. Nice dude great articles.
Thanks for share the list :)