Deep Dives Travel Tales

Podcast #042: Influencers And Political Responsibility

2021-06-03
Admin

A signpost in English and Hebrew (it's in Hebron, in the Holy Land), directing people towards various local sites, including, to the left, the Ancient Jewish Cemetery, the Tomb of Jesse and Ruth, and a couple of archaeological excavations and lookout points, while to the right is the Cave of Otniel ben Knaz, Abraham's Oak, and, with big red letters saying 'Jewish Access Forbidden!', the city centre, industrial area, and shopping mall.

Welcome to Episode 42 of my “Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure” podcast.

I wasn’t sure what to call this episode (which obviously has a detrimental knock-on effect for SEO, LOL!). It follows on from my previous episode, and also covers influencer ethics, but in a largely political sense rather than ethical travel itself. In essence, I’m looking at whether travel bloggers and influencers have a responsibility to their audience to be mindful of political and ethical concerns of the destinations they/we visit, and whether we should consider avoiding destinations if their government or culture is at odds with our own brand ethics and image.

Specific topics discussed in this episode include:

  • Why this pod was scheduled so far in advance
  • I now have a Virtual Assistant and she’s going to be good for me
  • I Hope You’ve Flossed This Morning
  • Ethical governments rarely come up in everyday conversations about holidays
  • Travel concerns while being in the Rainbow Community
  • Government rule: By The People, For The People
  • The problems of visiting Uganda, for example
  • … but do boycotts hurt the everyday citizen?
  • Visiting as a brand on a job vs visiting as an individual on a holiday
  • No country is innocent and guilt-free
  • Ethical travel is a relative concept anyway

You can listen via the feed above, or via Spotify, or on your podcast app of choice. Let me know if it isn’t, by the way, and I’ll see what I can do. In addition, a PDF transcript of this episode is available by clicking here.

As always, if you have anything to say about the topic, or indeed about my podcasting in general, leave a comment or let me know. There is a Facebook group for my podcast that you’re free to join: Click here!

I also now have a Patreon! If you like what you hear, and want to access exclusive content (or just to show your appreciation), then head on over to my page and donate to me!

Contributions in this episode come from:

Share this post: