Sadly the ethics of the business of travel writing is not discussed enough I believe. When building a career in this field it is important to maintain some sort of integrity. However, there are those out there that just want to make a quick buck or use their connections in order to garner free trips around the world. Fortunately these people are vetted out of the system but not before they take away some of the opportunities that could have gone to better writers.

Should you disclose that you were paid or compensated to go on a trip? Well if you have any doubt about this then perhaps this is not the field for you. Of course you should. Not only will this establish your creditability but allow you to write a true opinion of the events that took place. Do we see this happen a lot in the travel articles we read in the newspapers and online? Quite frankly we do not see this type of disclosure in most publications. One does have to wonder why this is the case.

When you run a personal travel blog I believe it is your duty to disclose any and all freebies or compensated trips in either the article itself or in some other form. This allows the readers to form a better and more accurate opinion for themselves as to whether a destination or travel gadget is worth their while.

This is not just my belief but this is the rules set forth by the Federal Trade Commission of the United States. As many of my readers are from the United States I thought you may want to be aware of these guidelines.

Working as a freelance travel writer is hard enough but if you should ruin your reputation by not being wholly ethical and honest then you can pretty much count on your career being killed on the spot.