A good travel newsletter – or several – can be the travel buff’s best industry friend!

Whether you travel for business or pleasure, travel newsletters can provide a wealth of travel information, some of which can be used now and some of which can be compiled into a gigantic reference resource that’s useful for years to come. Even the armchair traveler, who may only be able to take infrequent trips, can benefit from what can be gleaned from a good travel newsletter.

Most travel websites offer a free travel newsletter – it’s just good business for them. By providing valuable information that keeps you reading, when it comes time to take a trip, their readers are most likely to book a trip through them.

While business travelers most often book through their corporate travel agent, they’re missing out on a lot of insider information if they don’t also look to a few good travel newsletters as well. For example, these newsletters often include feature articles on boutique hotels, so much more warm and friendly than the national chains, quite often at a substantial savings and equipped with all the usual business traveler services. Other tidbits might include links to the best hot spots in a given destination. Business travelers can make a good impression on a client by entertaining them at one of of those little out-of-the-way gems unknown to his competitors.

The active pleasure traveler, booking a trip on his own, can find out about the hottest deals available this week or month, right through his email travel newsletter.

The best travel newsletters are those which deliver great feature articles in every issue. You, the subscriber, can compile these articles into categories and use them as a ready reference when you’re contemplating a trip. You can categorize them by destination, travel resources, travel gadgets, or restaurant or hotel reviews. Do remember that this is copyrighted information, so you can only use this information for your own personal use. You can share your travel newsletter with a friend, but only when you pass it on in its entirety.

These lovely newsletters make for good reading, even if you can’t make a trip right now. If you follow every link in each issue, you’ll be able to dream and learn in a single sitting.

If you’re into travel research, you can find tons of resources, ranging from historical information to tips on etiquette in foreign countries. For example, did you know that giving someone a big ‘thumbs up’ is a ghastly insult in certain Middle Eastern cultures? One traveler learned this the hard way and was hard pressed to make amends, following this particular breach of etiquette.

Most travel newsletters also regularly throw in a couple of links to traveler freebies they’ve dug up during the month.

Travel sites always keep up on the latest travel gadgets, from hand held GPS devices to photo upload gadgets with new and improved features in a smaller size. This saves you lots of time tracking them down and keeping up to date.

These newsletters are a truly terrific resource for every type of traveler.