HOW TO JOIN THE GUILD

Who is eligible?

Membership of the Guild is open to appropriately qualified writers, photographers, editors, broadcasters and cameramen/women currently involved in any aspect of travel journalism and resident in the UK or Eire.

Applicants living outside the UK and Eire must hold a UK or Eire passport and work to a significant extent for UK publications, publishers and/or broadcasters etc. The eligibility of foreign applicants is decided on a case-by-case basis. Travel journalism must be a major component of income for all prospective members.

No one who has been working in travel or travel-related PR within the past 12 months is eligible for membership of the Guild. The Guild believes in equal opportunities and welcomes applications from people in all parts of the travel industry who meet the membership criteria.

How to apply

If you would like an membership application form, see Apply for Membership. An application form will then be emailed to you. Once this form has been completed, please send it along with samples of your work (which will be returned later) to Membership Secretary Mary Moore Mason, 55 Hereford Road, London W2 5BB.

What are the requirements?

All applicants should have produced a substantial amount of travel-related work over the past three years. By substantial, we mean an annual average of at least 12 full travel articles, not snippets, or a guidebook or other travel book, 40 published photographs and broadcasting coverage totalling at least 60 minutes or a combination of the above.

Websites and blogs that are paid for or supported by advertising are accepted if part of a larger portfolio of work.This must be quite substantial if the websites or blogs are unpaid work. The final selection of candidates for membership is at the discretion of the committee.

Editing guidebooks or travel-related magazines is also valid; several Guild members for example are exclusively guidebook editors.

It is recognised that an applicant's output may be composite: for example a mixture of editing, updating or writing guidebooks and writing articles. In such a case, there are no hard-and-fast rules, but we will still require the applicant to demonstrate that it all adds up to a substantial component of his or her income.

Your application may be supported by one or more members of the Guild to whom the you are known personally, along this is not mandatory. Such an endorsement (s) should be emailed to the Membership Secretary at the same time as your application is submitted.

The application process

If you meet the necessary membership criteria, you will be invited to attend an interview either before the full committee of the Guild or by the Chairman and Membership Secretary and a co-opted and long-serving third member. Your details will be published in the Guild’s Globetrotter electronic bulletin. Providing no adverse comments are received, your application will then be formally ratified, normally at the end of the calendar month following your interview.

Membership takes effect only after the appropriate payments have been made: a one-off joining fee of £140 and the annual subscription, which is also £140 (this will be reduced to a pro rata amount for members elected after 1 October).

Any queries should be directed to the Membership Secretary, Mary Moore Mason, at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it