Time didn’t allow for me to attend the travel panel at this year’s Blog World and New Media Expo in Las Vegas, but the beauty of social media is that it came to me instead via Twitter and RSS.

I know a lot of people reading here work in or around the travel industry, so I thought it might be helpful to share this video of an interesting panel discussion by three travel PR powerhouses on the subject of travel blogging:

There’s No such Thing As a Free Trip – #BWE09 from Tom Martin on Vimeo.

It’s an hour long, but if you’re interested in how your property or agency can work more effectively with bloggers, it’s worth the time. (I think Fairmont Hotels’ Mike Taylor has particularly helpful advice on how to assess travel blogs.) Likewise, if you’re a blogger who wants to work smarter with the tourism industry, this one’s for you.

My big take-away? It’s still–and always was–about the trust relationship: between the travel industry and a writer, and a writer and her readers.

Transparency equals credibility equals readership and results. ’Twas ever thus.

I’d be interested to know what you glean from the discussion…