The press trip is the mechanism that makes travel writing economically viable for the creator who cannot self-fund the research for every destination they want to cover. The 10-day Maldives trip that the tourism board paid for, the 5-night South Africa safari whose lodge comped the stay in exchange for 2 Reels and 3 Stories and a 1,500-word review, the Oaxaca food tour whose chef invited the travel writer as a guest — these are the press trips that populate the travel media and that the creator who wants to be taken seriously by tourism PRs needs to understand, apply for, and navigate ethically. This guide gives the mechanism, the standards, the pitch that gets a response, and the one thing you must disclose.
Reading time: 8 minutes | Last updated: 2026
What a Press Trip Actually Is
A press trip (also called a “fam trip” — from “familiarisation trip”) is a trip offered by a tourism board, a hotel group, an airline, a cruise line, or a tour operator to a journalist, blogger, or social media creator in exchange for coverage. The coverage is typically: a minimum number of posts on specified platforms, a review article, a feature piece in a named publication, or a combination of these.
What is offered: The flights (sometimes), the accommodation (usually), the activities and tours (usually), and some meals (variable). The cash fee is rare in the UK press trip market — the comped experience is the compensation. The creator who expects a fee in addition to the press trip for the first five years of their career is misunderstanding the market. The creator who reaches 50,000+ followers or a major national newspaper byline can begin negotiating the fee.
What is expected in return: The deliverables (the specific posts, the review, the feature) are negotiated before the trip begins. Read the deliverables agreement before accepting — the tourism board that expects 20 Instagram posts from a 4-night visit is negotiating a work-for-hire arrangement that requires professional assessment, not automatic acceptance.
The legal obligation: UK law (the ASA CAP Code) requires the disclosure of all press trip assistance in any content produced as a result. The post that includes the hashtag #ad or the disclosure “I was a guest of [tourism board]” is legally compliant. The post that fails to disclose is not. The ASA has issued enforcement notices for non-disclosure — the fine is not the primary risk, the reputational damage is.
How to Get on the Press Trip List
Step 1: Build the media kit.
The media kit (the one-page PDF document giving: your name, your publication/platform, your monthly reach by channel (website pageviews, Instagram followers + engagement rate, email subscribers), your most relevant published pieces (linked), and the contact email) is the document you send with every press trip request.
The media kit in 2025 must include the engagement rate (the followers divided by the likes and comments, expressed as a percentage — the number that the tourism PR assesses to determine whether the follower count is real or purchased). The media kit without the engagement rate is incomplete.
Step 2: Identify the correct PR contacts.
Tourism boards have press offices. Hotels have PR teams. Airlines have media departments. Every country’s tourism board website has a press/media section with the contact email. The UK-based PR agency that represents the tourism board is the specific contact point for the UK creator — the [country] tourism board’s London PR agency (the Finn Partners, the Clarity PR, the Huntsworth Travel division) is often more accessible than the tourism board’s headquarters.
The specific instruction: Google “[country name] tourism board UK press office” and “[country name] tourist board London PR agency” — the second search often gives the actual UK point of contact that the tourism board’s website doesn’t prominently feature.
Step 3: Send the press trip request.
The press trip request email (200-250 words):
Subject: “Media Request — [Your name/publication], [Destination], [Proposed dates]”
Paragraph 1: Who you are and what platform you produce content for. The specific audience (the UK traveller, the 25-45 demographic, the adventure and cultural travel niche). The reach (the monthly pageviews, the Instagram followers, the email subscribers).
Paragraph 2: What coverage you can offer. The specific deliverables (the blog post, the Instagram Reels, the email newsletter feature). The approximate audience for each deliverable. The link to your most relevant recent piece.
Paragraph 3: What you’re requesting. The accommodation, the specific activities, the dates. Be specific — the vague “I’d love to visit Morocco” is not a media request. The specific “I’m proposing a 5-day Marrakech circuit focusing on the Atlas mountain day trips and the culinary traditions of the Medina, suitable for the UK family travel audience I’ve built over 3 years” is a media request.
Step 4: Follow up once.
The PR email that receives no response in 10 days: follow up with the one-line “Following up on my media request of [date] — please let me know if you’d like to discuss further.” One follow-up. Not two.
The PR Relationships That Matter
The long-term relationship: The tourism PR who remembers your name because you covered their destination well, disclosed correctly, and delivered the agreed coverage on time is the PR who offers you the next trip. The press trip is the beginning of the relationship, not the transaction.
The tourism board annual media plan: Many tourism boards plan their press trip programme a year ahead. The creator who sends the media request in September for the following year’s programme is more likely to be included than the creator who sends the request for the trip happening in 6 weeks.
The hosted familiarisation trip: Some destinations offer group press trips (the “fam trip” in the original sense — the 10-15 journalists or creators on the same trip) rather than the individual press trip. The group fam trip is more accessible for the newer creator (the lower reach threshold) and less prestigious (the content from 15 creators covering the same trip is less distinctive). Both are valid for the creator building the relationship with the destination PR.
The Ethical Standard
The coverage is independent: The press trip does not obligate positive coverage. The hotel that was noisy, the tour that was poorly organised, the destination that didn’t match the promotional material — the journalist who received the press trip has the same obligation to accurate coverage as the journalist who paid for the trip themselves. The press office knows this and accepts it as the professional standard.
The disclosure is non-negotiable: The ASA disclosure requirement applies regardless of whether the tourism board asked you to disclose. The creator who received a press trip and does not disclose is in breach of UK advertising law. Disclose in every piece of content produced as a result of the trip.
The advance agreement: The deliverables (the number of posts, the word count, the publication timeline) should be agreed before the trip begins and in writing. The WhatsApp message is not an agreement. The email confirming the specific deliverables is the agreement.
