ASTA’s THETRAVELBLOGGERSHOW, now in its second year and held in conjunction with ASTA’s Travel Retailing & Destination Expo, recently closed to rave reviews, with one attendee noting that it was the “highlight of the conference.”
 
“ASTA continues to provide exceptional value to the industry through a series of unique events such as THETRAVELBLOGGERSHOW,” said ASTA CEO Tony Gonchar. “No one else in the industry is doing anything like it. As we build upon the success of this year’s event, we will continue to seek out new and innovative ways to provide the industry with the tools they need to stay competitive.”
 
Of the event, Randy Zats, president of InCircleRentals.com (St. Louis Park, Minn.), said: “I rate THETRAVELBLOGGERSHOW as outstanding. The practical advice shared freely by the expert speakers will be very helpful for me to reach more readers. I am so glad I attended and recommend it without reservation to anyone who has a blog.”
 
"This is a great place to gain more knowledge and understand how others make it work. Don't overlook this program as one tool you need to succeed with 'blogging.' Highly recommended!" said Han Geskes, Vegas Express Jet (Las Vegas).
 
The event drew more than 100 current and aspiring bloggers for a day of learning and discussion. The seminar presented by adventureswithben.com’s Ben Reed, “Beyond Guest Posting: Broadening your audience through increasing brand awareness” taught attendees simple, proven strategies to build content and bring in new audiences. The session “Making Your Blog Pop: Five steps to a killer travel blog” was presented by Beth Whitman of Wanderlust and Lipstick and offered those in attendance proven techniques and insider tricks-of-the-trade to make their blog, a killer blog. Additionally, “Marketing and Publicizing Your Blog. How to take it viral and spread your content across the globe,” presented by Airfarewatchdog.com’s George Hobica, was a fast-paced session that brought audience members up speed on demonstrated techniques for promoting their blog across the globe. The session “Monetizing Your Blog: How to turn your blog into a money machine” had presenter Wil Klass take attendees through proven steps for becoming a professional blogger. In “Search Engine Optimization: Optimize your blog, maximize your reach,” George Oberle of TravelBlogProject.com presented tried and true strategies to unlock the mysteries of SEO and maximize one’s audience. Lastly, the panel discussion, “Where to Next? Surviving in the fast-evolving world of blogging” featuring the day’s speakers and moderated by Gadling’s Grant Martin took a sneak peak at what the world of blogging has in store.
 
“THETRAVELBLOGGERSHOW helped give me a 360 perspective, as well as give me an overview of the best practices of travel blogging. But most importantly, it helped me start my travel blog, Travel Teki, with confidence,” noted Mikhail Mashudi of Travel Teki (New York City).
 
Sandra Weinacht and Marti Naughton of Incantato Tours (Tega Cay, SC) said: “THETRAVELBLOGGERSHOW provided our team at Incantato Tours insights, expertise and many new tools to stay on top of this ever changing market and confirmed the importance of blogging for a boutique tour company like ours. Thank you for combining informative sessions with real-life examples and we look forward to future learning opportunities.”
 
"This day was so packed with great information - the insights on SEO were worth the entire price of the show and more; the rest of the presentations were icing on the cake. I hope to be able to attend next year!" said Elaine Baran of Esprit Travel Corp. (Las Vegas).
 
Here’s what other attendees had to say:
- “It was wonderful. Very informative and well paced.”
-  “Very glad I attended. It was useful and informative.”
- “We found the speakers and topics very interesting. This is our second convention, and I thought the agenda and events were much better than last year.”
- “Well worth the time. I learned a great deal and am very glad to have attended.”

THETRAVELBLOGGERSHOW, held in conjunction with ASTA’s Travel Retailing & Destination Expo (THETRADESHOW) brings seasoned and aspiring bloggers together with travel industry professionals for a day of networking and learning. With both morning and afternoon seminar sessions, the event included time for attendees to walk the trade show floor, where hundreds of travel suppliers from around the world were exhibiting.