Condé Nast Traveler relaxes "truth in travel" rules

Junketing seems to have arrived at Condé Nast Traveler magazine as, under new management, the longstanding policy of paying full freight for hotels and travel, thereby being able to promote that its content promises "truth in travel" has been relaxed.

According to a story on the online travel site Skift, until now the magazine's mission statement stated that contributors "pay the same price you do and travel unannounced, except in rare cases where it's impossible to do so." Contributors were recently informed they may request media rates from travel providers while writing stories for the magazine.

The article says the new approach is indicative of the shakeup by editor-in-chief Pilar Guzman who joined CN Traveler in August.

“Truth in Travel” was essential to how former editor-in-chief Klara Glowczewska viewed the publication’s mission. She was known to openly disregard reader surveys that demonstrated a majority of the magazine’s readers didn’t think “truth in travel” was all that important.

The policy had started eroding in 2011 when CNTraveler.com was launched and relied on lower-paid freelancers for its daily blog. 

The statement was amended with “Although some of the contributors to our Daily Traveler blog engage in work outside Condé Nast Traveler that does not always follow these rules, when writing for us they adhere to our standard and are transparent about any of their affiliations and sponsorships.”