“After being turned down by numerous publishers, he had decided to write for posterity.”

George Ade

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Why join the Guild?

The British Guild of Travel Writers is an association of people who earn the major part of their income from travel journalism or authorship, either as full time employees or freelancers. Membership is open to writers, editors, broadcasters, independent publishers of travel material and photographers. Those engaged in public relations or advertising work are excluded. The Guild believes in equal opportunities and welcomes applications for membership from all sections of the travel community who meet the membership criteria.

As a member, you:

• Receive the Guild's TRAVEL PRESS card.
• May attend monthly meetings, which include talks, press trips and such networking events as the Guild Members' Awards and Yearbook Launch.
• Receive many travel concessions negotiated by the Guild.
• Receive our monthly magazine, Globetrotter.
• Receive a listing with your photograph in the Guild's Yearbook and on its website, which details your relevant experience and areas of expertise, and receive the listing of your fellow ETP members.
• Receive a copy of the Guild's annually updated Yearbook, Britain's only comprehensive guide to the travel industry. As well as listing our members, it has over 2,500 listings including travel editors, PRs, hotel chains, tour operators, national tourist offices and transport operators. Copies of the Yearbook are offered free via the website to bona fide commissioning travel editors.
• Gain access to the Guild's website: with a fully searchable version of the members' listings, a collision calendar of travel industry events and a detailed, searchable Travel Industry Database. On the members-only areas of the website are a discussion forum, noticeboard and legal advice.
• Receive heavily discounted membership of the London Press Club and Royal Commonwealth Society.
• Benefit from networking and receiving professional support from fellow members.

The Guild is NOT a trade union. It does not negotiate fees or salaries, and does not commission or assign work. Its main concerns are to underscore the professional status of its members, provide a forum for discussion, undertake activities to extend its members’ knowledge and expertise, and to maintain contact with governmental, travel trade, and other relevant bodies. Many of its activities also provide members with an opportunity to get together socially.

We don’t make it easy to join the Guild; we are proud of our reputation for being some of the hardest working and most knowledgeable travel writers in the world. To join the Guild is a sign that you have arrived and PRs and the press alike will know they are dealing with a professional. Be warned, there are several hoops to jump through on the way and the process can take up to 4 months.

If you stay the course and are invited to join, the rewards are immense: inclusion of your details in the online directory of members and the yearbook, both of which are accessible to most commissioning editors and PRs; a monthly newsletter (Globetrotter); monthly meetings (social and working); annual journalism awards; access to the guild's online Travel Industry Database (TID); and the support and networking opportunities of the organisation. In addition, BGTW members are automatically members of the European Travel Press which offers a range of useful benefits, and guild members are also invited to join the London Press Club at a special discounted rate which grants access to the Royal Commonwealth Society club on Northumberland Avenue in London, and access to Press clubs in cities around the world.

Prospective members should bear in mind that as with most associations, the Guild will expect them to contribute as much as they may hope to get out of their membership. Except for serious illness, members are expected to attend at least one Guild meeting a year. Hopefully you will also feel inspired to put something back into the organisation, help organise the many events and even perhaps serve on the committee.