I have been a reader of the Independent for many years. In fact, I try to read all the newspapers Sunvil advertises in. It amounts to quite a bill every week. They’re not cheap!
You may or may not know that the Independent is the only newspaper whose writers never accept freebies from us – by us I mean companies that have a commercial interest in promoting their wares to the public.
So, whenever you read about a destination in the Independent, you know the travel arrangements, accommodation and any other services have been paid for by the person travelling or by the newspaper.
This should mean the writer never feels obliged to make complimentary comments about a free holiday.
This is all very laudable but, I always feel, tends to restrict the type of holiday written about in the Independent.
The newspaper’s travel pages are a bit of a backpackers’ guide to the universe. Perhaps the Independent has accurate information on the profile of its readership and know that this is how they want to holiday.
Well, count me out. At my age I like to be more conservative and people like me might perhaps consider using a tour operator specialising in more independent types of packages (if there are such things) so that they do not feel completely on their own.
So, a few people may prefer to do their own thing in Colombia but most would probably want to travel with, say, a specialist offering small group tours.
The problem for Independent readers is that tour operators are rarely mentioned in the information provided.
Perhaps the Independent merely wants to provide a good read and the practicalities are of secondary importance. The writing trend these days is to make the writer the star rather than the destination.
Is the newspaper sure none of its readers would want to travel with a tour operator who could be mentioned in the fact box along with the usual details of what was paid to the airline and the accommodation provider?
In other papers the distinction between the operator who actually provided the trip and others who provide similar services has become rather blurred. In the fact boxes below most pieces you will find not only the name of the operator who gave the free trip, but prices of flights only with telephone numbers for the airlines flying the route and for the accommodation providers so readers can contact them directly.
Of course, we operators don’t like this trend, but there is very little we can do about it. So, you could argue that it is the newspapers which give a wider range of information that are proving more useful in their approach by giving readers a wider choice of options.
All in all, I am not convinced – in the current climate of accurate travel reporting – that it makes any difference whether the writer has or has not paid for the holiday experience.
What you have is different editorial approaches rather than ethical or non-ethical stances. The Independent provides a different read from the Telegraph, Sunday Times, Observer and Independent on Sunday, but is no more and no less accurate. In these days of Government-approved directional selling, we independents would be dead without occasional mentions in the national press.