Definately independant, thats the beauty of this site. Yes some people who have connections in the travel business contribute to this site which in my opionion is a good thing.

Dave

well i contribute and have no connection with the travel industry so must be independent. To be honest not everyone has positive things to say about regions and hotels so it is just our own individual opinions but you have to make your own choices.

Well I'm sitting at home on my commie, with no connection to the travel industry at all

I don't think if we were connected to the travel industry we'd have the complaints forum - have a read in there

Click Here for link to complaints

I have nothing to do with the travel industry in any way and I think that anyone on here who has is always up-front enough to say so. The input of people in the industry is always welcome by those of us who want to understand how the thing works but the site itself is totally independant.

Have to admit though, that this is my favourite travel site!

I have been a member for a few years in one guise or another.. I have nothing to do with the travel industry, we have a wide selection of members some work for airlines, some tour operators or travel agents and some whom you wont see very often who, work in press and TV, they use HT as a research source for holiday articles [we have also been mentioned several times by them in their articles/shows]

this wide base along with our majority private members helps ensure that HT remains independent, you may think at times some of our actions when modding look like a hidden agenda, but you wont find one all the admin and mods give of their time freely to do our best to make and keep HT what we hope is the premium holiday advice site

wizard

The only experience of the travel industry that I have is arranging my own holidays. We are completely independent.

I am a teacher and am like Sarah- the only connection I have to the travel industry is going on holiday. I would not give up hours of my life every week to mod on a site which is not independent.

I'm a care assistant

I'd gladly do freelance if someone wanted to pay me to work from home
Kath x

I'm a secretary and all my knowledge has been gained by going on holiday to numerous countries and from what I've learned on here.

Some people question our independence when they see the names of certain holiday companies highlighted as links. This is only a little bit of advertising to bring in enough revenue to pay for the servers and hosting company that run the site as far as I know. It definitely doesn't pay for the mods and admins who run the site as we all do it voluntarily in our free time. You will find other review sites are littered with advertising and the dreaded pop ups because they are commercial concerns.

It's the wonderful members who make this site as successful and popular as it is by sharing their knowledge and experience to help fellow holiday makers.

luci

the question was for people who wonder
who is behind website and to put people at ease regarding thier qeuries they have on holiday topics,
i no some members jobs are link directly to tour operators which is good because you can sometimes get better infomation from them
and mods do a good job on forums,

The suggestion has been made from time to time that some of us have a vested interest.

I do know that we have several members in the industry, yet I cannot recall ever seeing a post from any of them that was made in defence of the failings.

Yes the specialist knowledge bit does come into things, and the reply may be written with the benefit of that specialist knowledge.

But then again some of our members are well travelled, or have experience that makes the reply of more help. I ran a car hire operation so sometimes I can point someone in the right direction because of that.

The fact that so many people use this site when they have a problem or for research, only demonstrates the quality of information that can be found.

I only have one complaint - and that is when someone posts with a problem, so many do not have the courtesy to tell us the outcome. Good or bad makes no difference. It is the feedback that is important.

No commercial website could ever hope to achieve what HT does - there is no doubt that a lot would like to do so.

fwh

interesting this!
i recall several years ago having a "tongue in cheek" go at travel agents and those who work for them. well the reaction i had and the vitriol returned in the subsequent posts seemed to cause me to be banned from this site, until a grovelling(tho sincere) apology was given.
i have since realised that altho'people may be in the industry they give their honest views on here,even if it's against "corporate policy". well done the honest/brave/whistle blowers et al.