An Insider Look Into the Travel Creator Economy

I'm writing to you from Frankfurt Airport, where I'm currently in transit from Kazakhstan to Greece.

Airports – and the process of crossing borders – often offer a glimpse into how our world works.

Standing in line for passport control just now, I observed how a Kazakh citizen in front of me was subjected to a lengthy examination process, with questions ranging from "How much money do you have in the bank?" to "Who is picking you up from the airport?" and, my personal favorite, "Why are you coming to this conference?"

(As if someone with such an origin is ever so slightly out of place in a German conference).

Stepping up to the officer booth right after, I was barely given a look. A quick flip through the passport, a stamp, and off I go with my American power card.

This, of course, is not a new observation, but it jars me nonetheless every time.

On my way to the next gate, I thought about this privilege.

As an immigrant to the U.S., I paid a heavy price for mine.

(Among the costs: decades-long dissolution of family ties and the lack of support; I'll have more to say on this soon.)

But now that I have this privilege, what do I do with it?

To paraphrase bell hooks, having privilege is not in and of itself bad; what matters is whether we use it in ways that empower those who lack it.

For me, building this platform is one answer to that.

xx Yulia

🏠 Inside Going Places

Our member drive is wrapped 🎉

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us during our first-ever annual member drive!

Every time someone decides to support our work, it's a powerful signal for me to keep going, a reminder that there are people out there who care about the world and our impact in it.

While we didn't reach our goal of 50 new members (not yet ;)), I'm excited to see where we take Going Places in year two – and I hope you'll stick around for the journey, too.

Onwards!

Fighting for porter equity on the trail

Last week, our show's guest was Marinel de Jesus, a former lawyer who now advocates for women and Indigenous communities in the mountain-trekking industry.

Marinel's documentary, KM 82, is an exposé on this part of the tourism sector. Marinel, the porters, and her team received many threats for telling this story.

Take a listen here.

This Former Lawyer Is Fighting for Porter Equity on the Trail

Marinel de Jesus is advocating for “invisible people” in trekking.

Going PlacesYulia Denisyuk

Coming up this week

➡️ This Wednesday, you'll hear from Mitti Hicks, a travel journalist who's using her platform to elevate stories of Black communities worldwide.

Don't have our podcast on your feed? Add it easily here.

Easily listen to Going Places in your podcast app of choice

Quickly and easily listen and subscribe to Going Places for free in your podcast app of choice.

🚀 Paid Members Corner

This week's creator opportunities

🚀 Exhibit your art images in New York – apply by Mon, May 11

🚀 Go on a food writing retreat in Japan; scholarships available – apply by Fri, May 15

🚀 Win $500 for your travel story – apply by Fri, May 15

🚀 Win up to $100,000 from National Geographic – apply by Mon, May 25

🚀 Win $10,000 for your non-fiction journalism – apply by Wed, Jul 1

🚀 A call for pitches on women's stories – no deadline

🚀 This Canadian travel pub is open to pitches – no deadline

🚀 Allrecipes is seeking new contributors – no deadline

🚀🔓BONUS: A call for speakers for a travel podcast – no deadline

🚀🔓BONUS: Win $10,000 writing about the cosmos – apply by Mon, Jun 1

Find all the latest opportunities here.

🔓 Bonus opportunities are unlocked for our free subscribers.

🌍 In The World

A state of the travel creator economy

Do you consider yourself a travel creator?

If you're a journalist, blogger, content creator, photographer, YouTuber, or podcaster working in travel, consider adding your voice to this study by Travel Massive.

Equally, if you work on the travel providing side (tourism boards, DMOs, PR agencies, hotels, tour operators, etc), Travel Massive wants to hear from you, too.

The goal for this study is to establish benchmarks and insights for the $254 billion travel creator economy, where few standards currently exist.

Survey respondents will have a chance to win gift cards, Plaza Premium lounge passes, or tickets to join the Travel Massive Asia Conference.

>> Take the survey here by Fri, May 15

I found last year's report quite insightful.

It talked about the gap in expectations between travel creators and travel providers, what platforms travel providers are planning to invest in, what travel creators are charging for their work, lessons from high-earning creators, and more.

Peek into the 2025 report here.

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