Konector analyzed each of the leading 150 independent travel blogs and used the Online Impact Factor to find the top 50 blogs with the greatest influence in the travel sector.

(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - 21st February, 2010 - Rick Steves: Blog Gone Europe, Hole in the Donut and Everything Everywhere have been named as three of the most influential Travel blogs. This is according to the Top Independent Travel Blogs and Bloggers report. The report is designed for Travel companies, PR agencies and Ad agencies that use blogs and social networks to promote their Travel brands.

Using blogs for brand promotion is extremely powerful. The total combined audience for the top 150 independent travel blogs is over three million visitors a month. “That is a huge number of visitors, who read more than seven million pages a month” says Mathew Ryder, the Communications Manager at Konector. “What is even better is these visitors have made an active decision to read the blogs. They have a genuine interest in the content and are often themselves seen as influencers, continuing to spread the word. Travel companies can position their brands in front of these targeted consumers, all 3.2 million of them. They can then monitor the conversations, gather all the feedback and measure the success of the campaign”.

Although the number of visitors is important, it is not the only requirement to make the Konector list. “When ranking the blogs we focus on three main criteria - reach, frequency and interaction,” says Kingsley Maunder, a Director at Konector. “We therefore use our proprietary Online Impact Factor to measure how many people visit a blog, how often they visit that blog, the time spent on the blog and how active they are once they get there.”

So what separates the top Travel blogs from the others?

Konector found many different types of travel blogs, ranging in style and content and identified that the more influential blogs focused on a particular element of the travel experience. Examples of such are Upgrade: Travel Better, aimed specifically at business and frequent flyers, GoBackpacking, which is the “go to site” for budget travelers and students, and Travel Savvy Mom for the family friendly destinations and hotels. Alternatively Go Visit Hawaii, Knowing Rome and India Travel Blog focus on particular destinations.

“Permanent tourist style blogs such as Hole in the Donut and Heather on her travels also ranked highly in the report,” says Maunder. “They connect on a personal level, both blogger and reader together in ways that glossy brochures and highly produced travel commercials can’t possibly match. Bloggers offer inspiration, travel tips, destination advice, travel news and beautiful photos. It is this immediacy and intimacy that makes this particular style of blog a very effective and highly influential medium for brand communications. Bloggers can interact and share their experiences with brands in “real time” influencing their readership and others to engage with a brand.”

Konector also learned that the top bloggers use all possible means to promote their sites and spread the word. “The majority of them use Twitter while some, like Where I’ve Been, 501 Places and My Itchy Feet, also use Facebook” says Ryder. “In addition several of the leading travel bloggers use rich video content to great effect, as shown by Heather on her Travels and Europe A La Carte. The huge advantage of this is that travel companies can also work with bloggers to promote their products on blogs and on popular social networks, significantly increasing brand awareness.”

About the Top Independent Travel Blogs and Bloggers report:

The Top Travel Blogs and Bloggers will give you a detailed analysis of the travel blogosphere and help you understand:
• Which blogs have the most impact in travel
• Which bloggers have the most impact on your audience
• Which bloggers have a captive audience most suitable for your target market (by demographic and location)
• Which bloggers promote and review products and services most suitable for your brand
The Top Independent Travel Blogs and Bloggers report will also give you insight into promoting your brand on social networks, including YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, giving you an opportunity to increase your exposure to this wider audience.

Detailed profiles of the blogs and bloggers are also included in the report. These will give you an idea about the person behind the blog and the most appropriate way to approach them. Where possible we have included the blog history and future plans, to give you insight into the stability and potential growth of the site.

A detailed overview of the report, including sample pages can be found at http://konector.com/topblogsoverview/topblogsintravel.

About Konector:

Konector links digital marketers with leading bloggers to help promote brands to highly targeted audiences.

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