About
Hi I'm Karen Bryan, the founder of Europe a la Carte, a UK based travel content website which informs, inspires and entertains readers who love travel in Europe.
Europe a la Carte was created in July 2002. The Internet was really catching on and I thought that having an online presence would allow me to gain market exposure, even as an independent player in the travel market. I chose the name to reflect the fact that more travellers were opting for an "a la carte" versus "set menu' approach to planning and booking travel. It was becoming easier and cheaper to put together your own holiday on the Internet rather than booking a traditional package holiday, especially with the growth of low cost airlines in Europe. I also thought it would be wonderful to work in a field in which I had a great personal interest, as I've always loved travelling in Europe.
I soon realised
that I would have to find a niche market as I could not
compete with the large travel companies in selling airline tickets or
accommodation in popular destinations such as Paris or Venice. I started to specialise in writing about less well known destinations
in Europe. My rationale was that if you venture, even slightly,
off the well worn tourist track, you can get a more authentic flavour
of your destination.
I started the Europe a la Carte blog, an online magazine,in
the Autumn of 2006. In June 2008 the Europe a la Carte blog became a multi author blog in order to add more variety to the content.
From March to October 2008 I was editor of the Wandalust UK travel blog, part of the Creative Weblogging Network. It was a difficult decision for me to write for another blog but I wanted to increase my exposure and gain experience writing about destinations outside Europe.
After the 2nd birthday of the Europe a la Carte Blog in October 2008, and my presentation entitled, "The Future of the Travel Blog" during the World Trael Market in London in November 2008, I concluded that the way forward for independent, niche travel blogs such as the Europe a la Carte Blog was to work together to achieve more publicity and increase readership. So in June 2009, in partnership with Craig Martin of Indie Travel Podcast,the travel aggregation site, Top Travel Content, launched with Top Europe Travel Content, with plans for other continents to follow.