We would like to formally welcome you to the new traveltruth.com, version 2.0. It is a privilege to have you visit with us. You will not have to spend much time on our site before realizing that there is something very, very different about our content. It is truthful and it is totally advertising-free. Hopefully, it is also entertaining. This site is entirely supported by your good wishes and willingness to share the news that, finally, there is a place where travel consumers can get unbiased, professional advice from some of the industry’s most respected voices. We started traveltruth ten years ago because we just got tired of reading misleading and inaccurate information about the relative merits of vartious cruise lines, hotels, and airlines. We got tired of travel news coming out of offices where no one has ever worked a day in the industry.
Our site does not carry any advertising and we accept no payment of any kind from travel suppliers, tourist boards, or PR types. Quite frankly, we don’t quite understand how anyone would consider it ethical to receive funding from the very travel products that they purport to evaluate, yet, virtually every other travel blog and information site seems to do it. Not only don’t we regurgitate PR releases, we don’t even read them.
We hope that you do not miss the opportunity to wade through thousands of comments from folks using pseudonyms who have never worked a day in the travel or hospitality industry. Traveltruth is, admittedly, not really democratic. We think that those who choose to visit our open-source site will appreciate the fact that we don’t waste your time by venting non-sensical and amateurish opinions from folks whose travel background is simply a mystery.
Our writing staff includes former industry executives and travel writers. Our group has won more “World’s Best Travel Specialists” Awards from Conde Nast Traveler than any other travel firm in the United States. We were named “Best Bespoke Travel Planners” by Travel + Leisure Magazine.
Because we deal with a discriminating clientele throughout the United States and Canada on a daily basis, we are able to keep our fingers on the pulse of the industry based on our unsurpassed industry contacts. Our Q and A section, for example, comes from real questions posed by real people. These are the kinds of questions we deal with on a daily basis.
Our Managing Editor, Richard Bruce Turen, is an award-winning travel consultant and writer. In addition to his duties at traveltruth, he is a Contributing Editor at Travel Weekly, the US travel industry’s most respected news publication. He writes the weekly Reality Check column covering a wide range of industry topics. Our staff includes individuals named “World’s Best Honeymoon Specialist”, “World’s Best Luxury Cruise Specialist”, “World’s Top Spa Specialist” and “World’s Top Travel Generalist.” Our research staff is composed of individuals who have worked both the supplier and agent side of the business. Our new team of bloggers and postcard writers are worldwide travelers and local travel experts who are at the very top of their profession. No one at our firm is an outside contractor. No one works on commission. Each of our travelltruth team members is totally dedicated to spreading the truth about travel, offering a true perspective from the inside.
The centerpiece of our site is our lively Q and A section, where we make every attempt to answer questions in a direct and forthright manner. Our policy is to name names and to tell the truth about travel and the travel process.
We have offices in Naples, Florida and Naperville, Illinois Our Editorial Offices can be reached at: rturen@traveltruth.com We also have affiliated On-Site offices in 87 destinations around the globe. This enables us to handle personalized travel arrangements and inquiries for much of the planet.
Please believe us when we tell you that traveltruth.com is not intended to be a hook to attract new business. In fact, we have a waiting list for clients and our Churchill and Turen Telephone numbers are unlisted. If, however, you feel that our approach and your needs are uniquely compatible, please contact us and we will be pleased to talk about the possibility of welcoming you to our family.
We would love to hear from you regarding your experiences on the site. Tell us what you like and what you could easily live without.
Our pledge to you is simple. We will not follow the ruiles of travel political correctness. Consumers deserve to know how things really work and which travel products are better than others. We promise to keep buzz marketers off this site. You will never read anything here that has been written by someone lacking in significant industry knowledge and credentials.
If you’ve read this far, we must thank you again, for your intellect, your support, and your interest in the, often elusive, search for the travel truth. It is great to have you with us.
PS – If you would like to see some of our recent articles in the travel industry press that are not normally available to consumers, just Google “Turen Reality Check”
