JourneyWoman Contributor Guidelines

It’s a well-known fact that women make 80 to 85 per cent of travel decisions and comprise two-thirds of all travelers. Our impact as key influencers goes well beyond our role as travel consumers.

Tourism is one of the world’s most important economic sectors. It employs one in every 10 people on Earth and provides livelihoods to hundreds of millions more. Of these, most are women. Tourism also contributes to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal Number 5: “To achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Whether travelling solo or in a group, there are many things we can do to support  the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and decrease our impact on our world.

Contributor Guidelines

All of our contributors are women and most are over 50, presenting our readers with a relevant, diverse perspective on travel. 

We acknowledge that  ‘doing good’ is hard, but we must strive for it. To that end, our Sustainable Travel section includes articles to help women make good decisions about travel.

These are the guidelines that the JourneyWoman team tries to live by when we travel — and they’re the guidelines we encourage our contributors, readers and Women’s Travel Directory members to live by too.

1. JourneyWoman contributors are encouraged to support women-owned businesses and seek out women-owned, locally produced goods, restaurants and hotels wherever possible; and opt to travel with women-owned, Indigenous or First Nations-owned businesses, operators and guides where relevant, safe and appropriate. See our Women’s Travel Directory for a list of companies recommended by women. Our Accommodations section notes women-owned, Black-owned and Indigenous hotels.
2. JourneyWoman contributors are encouraged to use the most sustainable form of travel available when we travel. We encourage contributors to consider alternatives to short-haul flights (those less than 1,000 km) and use mass transit such as trains or buses). We encourage contributors to personally offset any flights they do have to take.
3. With regard to large-scale cruising, we encourage contributors to choose eco-friendly or hybrid ships over ships with more than 1000 people. We do not publish articles about large scale cruising due to its environmental impact. One exception to this is Antarctica polar cruises, in which the writer presented a balanced vview of the impact of sustainable ships.
4. We encourage contributors to opt for human-powered (biking, hiking, kayaking, etc) or public transportation (buses, trains, etc) whenever it is safe and practical to do so. We do not encourage contributors to put themselves at risk of harm or discomfort when deciding how to get where they want to go, and we acknowledge that not everyone has the privilege of deciding how to get around and that accessibility and mobility is a consideration, particularly for mature women.
5. JourneyWoman contributors are encouraged to consider less-travelled or shoulder season travel, instead of regions and tourist attractions that are struggling with overtourism. Not sure what qualifies? Check out this map from Responsible Travel or read our article on the documentary “The Last Tourist” by Bruce Poon Tip of G Adventures.
6. JourneyWoman contributors are encouraged to choose locally owned homestays and accommodations when they travel. The carbon footprint of homestay accommodation has been shown to be up to 80% less than that of international tourist hotels. Again, we do not encourage contributors to compromise their personal safety when arranging accommodation, and we acknowledge that accommodation requirements will vary drastically from person to person.
7. JourneyWoman contributors are encouraged to show wild places and creatures the same level of care and respect that they would show their own mother. We do not publish articles where animals are being ridden, caged or exploited in any way. To learn more, read this article on animal-friendly travel.
8. When considering travel gear and products, JourneyWoman contributors are encouraged to consider eco-friendly, recycled and sustainable products over net new products. We also encourage contributors to decrease their carbon footprint through recycling or reselling clothing and gear, where possible and safe. Get some thought starters here.
9. JourneyWoman contributors are encouraged to tip generously if they can (and to tip fairly if they can’t), particularly when representing JourneyWoman on press trips.

Diversity

For almost 30 years, JourneyWoman has represented women, diverse groups and causes, Indigenous people and persons with disabilities and LGBTQ+.  During the pandemic and now, we support diverse non-profit organizations and recommend that our readers do the same.  We are advocates against human and sex trafficking, members of Core.org and host fundraising events to support and educate about this global issue.

We seek out diverse voices, not only in our editorial but also in the people we hire (freelancers or full time), our contributors, our Women’s Advisory Council, and our Women’s Travel Directory, which features hundreds of women-friendly small businesses.

We created an Indigenous Resource Centre for others to reference in June 2021, and a Commitment to Black Voices (June 2020), along with other anti-racism learning and education resources.

We include diversity of authors and topics in our Travel Book Club and feature not only less-travelled places but authors with non-traditional perspectives.

We include a guide on words to avoid in writing in our Submission Guidelines.

Accessibility

We continue to further our commitment to accessibility in our editorial, surveys and with regular contributors such as Tanzila Khan, our solo accessible travel writer, and in our Women’s Travel Directory, which features accessible travel organizations such as Wheel the World and AccessibleGO.

Our Accessible Travel section features article from women with disabilities and mobility concerns, including “A New Way to Travel With MS”, Walking and Mobility Tips for When the Heart Is Young,

We host a monthly Accessible Travel call to discuss issues in accessible travel, share products and tips. Thse are published in our Accessible Travel Section.

Ethical standards

JourneyWoman is committed to producing journalism that is accurate, fair and unbiased. Our writers act with candor, transparency, and independence.

JourneyWoman operates independently, free of political interests. We do accept paid travel as part of our work, however partners are not permitted to review or approve articles in advance. When we rely on an organization for a product or access to an event, we are transparent about the relationship and note it within the relevant work. We operate in accordance with the ethics guidelines of the professional associations that we belong to, including the Society of American Travel Writers, The Transformational Travel Council, Travel Unity and the Travel Media Association of Canada. These guiding principles underscore our commitment to journalism that is accurate and reliable in the public interest.

Mission Statement

Founded in 1994, JourneyWoman’s mission is to empower women to travel safely and well.  We strive to uphold journalistic integrity and independence under all circumstances and at all times, without exception. As a reputable news organization, it is the fundamental purpose of JourneyWoman to enable women to know what is happening from a woman’s perspective and to provide first-hand information events so they may form their own conclusions. This is done through accurate, fair, and relevant stories told in a clear and compelling way.

With our editorial by women for women, our mission is to be the world’s most trusted resource for solo women’s travel, providing perspectives based on first-hand experience while adhering to the highest journalistic standards. Our target audience is a women who share an interest in travel and shared values of kindness, generosity, empathy and gratitude.

Verification/fact-checking standards

We commits to do its best to publish accurate information across all of its content. We take many steps to ensure accuracy: We investigate claims with skepticism; question assumptions; challenge conventional wisdom; confirm information with subject-matter experts; and seek to corroborate what sources tell us by talking with other informed people or consulting documents. We verify content, such as technical terms, stats, etc., against source documents or make clear who is providing the information. We may share relevant components of a story with a primary source or an outside expert to verify them.

We stand by the information as accurate, and if it’s not, we will change it as quickly as possible and be transparent with our readers about the magnitude of the error.

We welcome feedback from our readers and sources regarding the information that we publish. Contact [email protected].

We provide a means for the public to report inaccurate or contested material.

We include the name and contact information for the writer, as well as the editor’s name, for each substantive news item that we publish. Readers are also invited to comment directly on the website.

Bylines and signatures

We use bylines for all of our writers, although some past guest writers of archival articles may not be in our system. When you see “JourneyWoman” this means the article is a piece of content based on the work of several people.

JourneyWoman holds itself accountable to our commitment to journalistic standards. And in a time when readers are bombarded with information online, we want to make it easier for the public to understand how our journalism is produced.

For these reasons, JourneyWoman has taken several measures to enhance trust and improve transparency, including:

• Publishing our Submission Guidelines
• Bylines on published articles
• Labels on written content that indicate whether the content is sponsored by our advertisers
• Corrections, with a published link to our corrections policy

We are committed to engaging with our readers and creating editorial features based on your suggestions. Approximately 30 per cent of our content is sourced from women in our community and readers.

You can reach us at 437-688-8587 or [email protected]. We are located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Eastern time zone).  We recommend email in the event we are travelling and not able to access voice mail in a timely manner.

For more information please read out Privacy Policy and User Agreement here.