Responsible Travel and Tourism Marketing on Meta-Travel

Welcome to the Travel and Tourism Association on Meta-Travel; where travel professionals and people interested in travel can come together to share their travel experience, learn from each other, make new friends and widen their contacts in the travel and tourism industry.

Travel writers, photographers, public relations experts, tourist destination promoters, hospitality hosts, tour operators, travel service providers, local business owners and people curious about travel or living abroad can all feel at home on Meta-Travel.

If you're interested in travel and are serious about expanding your online visibility, we're interested in you.

Authentic Members

It is hoped that Meta-Travel can expand on the Travel Notes Online Guide to Travel and become a reference point for the best in travel; perhaps even an expanding database of who's who in the world of travel and tourism.

Meta-Travel is free to access but only users with a valid e-mail address can create a profile, post links and add travel content.

Become a Verified Member

In an attempt to keep the spam and dead accounts that plague many social networks and public forums to a minimum, it helps if you become a verified member to show that your profile belongs to a person serious about their online presence and looking to get the most out of a Meta-Travel membership, with the added benefits that being a verified member brings.

By using PayPal as a method of verification, we're already on the road to proving some form of authenticity; as spammers, scammers and dreaded bots tend to stumble at the first hurdle - paying a nominal fee to become a verified member and share in the building of a valuable online resource.

Member Profiles

Once you've joined us on Meta-Travel, it's time to introduce yourself.

Use your profile page to say who you are and what you represent truthfully.

Please reveal yourself to fellow members and the general public with a profile photo and brief description about yourself.

Profiles on Meta-Travel are not for company logos and anonymity. The purpose of a Meta-Travel profile page is to represent the people in travel and tourism.

Sure you can mention what you do, but the driving force of a Meta-Travel profile page is for it to be about the person behind the business.

We wouldn't expect to make new connections and socialise with people - or do serious business with them - in the real world, without some form of visual contact. So let's treat this online travel community like the real world and look each other in the eye.

Besides, it's a lot more interesting and rewarding when we know who we're talking to and dealing with.

If you've taken the time to join us on Meta-Travel, you might as well stick around and reveal more about yourself; where you've been and where you'd like to go.

Business Listings

If you want to create a company page, you can do so with a business listing; but you will still need a profile page for members to find out more about you; the owner, or employee.

Members with a business listing on Meta-Travel can add events to their page, embed videos, send out news to their registered fans, make announcements and encourage discussion in their own dedicated forum.

Promoting Yourself and What You Know

Completing Your Profile is a Start

Every time you post a travel insight on Meta-Travel - be it a blog post, city attraction, hotel listing, restaurant review, or travel website submission - an avatar of your profile picture shows up next to your submitted content and people will soon recognise you as a trusted member of the Meta-Travel Associates community.

Be known for posting valuable content and you may soon build up a following of real people, interested in what you have to say.

We believe that's what social networking online is really about.

Become a Travel Expert

Don't Fake It

There is no need for spam or fake reviews to get visitors to your travel website or blog.

We've all seen these types of posts and, as most people can tell them a mile off, it's not really a strategy that brings worthwhile results.

Instead of saying that you stayed in a great hotel (yours) or know of a super tour guide (you), dropping a link and then disappearing for good, use your profile to say that you are the hotel owner, or that you offer guided tours - whatever - instead.

People will come to you if you are truthful and write about who you are and what you know.

Regional Groups

Your next step should be to join a regional group where you base yourself, or your business.

Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania, South America, or Worldwide.

You may choose to join more than one group, or even create your own and invite your new travel contacts to join you.

Return regularly to network with people in your region and from around the world; continuing to add insightful travel tips for others interested in travel or living abroad.

The content you add on Meta-Travel is linked to your profile page.

Done correctly, and with passion, your Meta-Travel profile page can become more than just an online business card.

Travel Agents, Tour Operators and Travel Service Providers

First Person First

You may talk about your hotel or tours on your profile page, by all means, but first and foremost the profile page should be about you.

People visit the profile page to find out more about the person behind the business.

You can add photos, use HTML in your description, add content blocks and even move the blocks on your profile page around; to completely personalise your Meta-Travel profile.

More Visitors to Your Profile

You'll get more visitors to your profile page if you make regular posts about other interesting things for people to see and do in your area that are not just solely related to your business.

Maybe even write about the other places you've been to or would like to visit.

Return Often and Stay Active

When others ask a travel question, be ready to help where you can. That doesn't mean just posting a link to your website, or blog post, as a reply.

The point here is to be an active part of the travel community, build trust and make new contacts.

People might not want to buy what you're offering right now, but someone else could be interested further down the road; if your friendly face is still around.

They may even suggest you to a friend; who in turn tells another friend. You could go viral before you know it.

Be Original and Give Credit Where It's Due

Your Own Words

Please write in your own words and try to post pictures that you took with a camera (or phone); not with a right-click of copy and paste.

Using copyrighted materials, with no reference to the original owner, is not only frowned upon it is also against the law.

Always quote the source where possible and give credit where it's due.

No Offence and Keep it Legal

The Meta-Travel website is not to be used for for uploading and distributing illegal or pornographic material, even if it is marked as private.

Free to Join does not mean freedom to do what you like, so please respect the rights of others.

This is your community, so we hope that you will help to keep the environment clean from spam and non-offensive.

To protect your account information, always remember to log out after using our website on a public computer.

If you have any questions, feel free to use the Contact Form.

Become a Meta-Travel Member or Upgrade Your Membership.