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Edinburgh TV Festival 2023

Travel: Where Next?

1:15 pm

23 August 2021

Pentland Room

Session Description

Travelogue on television has a long and varied history from Alan Whicker via Wish You Were Here through to today with chefs, explorers, petrol heads and a whole host of celebrities who journey the world for our entertainment and solid ratings.

This session will examine the craft and essential elements of a good travel programme. But in an era of  travel for all (until the pandemic) with social media and YouTube influencers in far flung hangouts (often paid for by PR companies) – what are the challenges ahead? What is the next generation of travel programmes going to be like? And post-pandemic and Black Lives Matter do we not have new responsibilities? Are the new strand of celebrity driven travel programmes guilty of using destinations as mere backdrops for their antics and locals as extras? Is there a need to be more respectful of local sensitivities and avoid accusations of neo-colonialism? And what about the global footprint of all this globetrotting?

Speakers:
Nicola Lloyd, Commissioning Editor, ITV
Rajan Datar, Broadcaster, Features Writer, BBC
Ade Adepitan, TV Presenter, Paralympic Medalist and Journalist
John Carter,  Travel Journalist and Presenter

Producers:
Rajan Datar, Broadcaster, Features Writer, BBC
Sidra Khan, Producer and Director

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