My name is Gavin Rooney and I’m the founder & CEO of AnotherTrip, an Irish startup. With 12 years in travel and hospitality and 20 years in tech, I started AnotherTrip after hearing the same pain from creators and travel brands: collaborations are still being run through DMs and spreadsheets, deliverables get messy, organic performance is hard to attribute and record-keeping is often an afterthought.
This matters more than ever as more and more countries have started to treat gifted stays and PR trips as taxable income when provided in exchange for promotion.
What's happening? Tax and free gift in the same sentence sounds wrong but it is increasingly common.
Unfortunately it’s true! In many countries, gifted stays, free trips, and PR trips and experiences are all now considered taxable income for content creators, even when no money changes hands, when these things are given in exchange for promotion.
This means: - A free hotel stay - A gifted experience/tour/activity - A PR trip can now in many cases also be considered taxable
The biggest challenge is that most of this activity still happens informally and is agreed over DMs or email chains, with random records of what was gifted, what it was worth, or how it should be reported.
Content creators are often left asking: - Wait, what? Do I need to pay tax on this? - What value was this even worth I can’t remember? - Where and how should I even be tracking this stuff?
And there’s two sides to this coin, brands are also under growing pressure to keep better records of collaborations as regulations across countries evolve. And without records how can they even begin to understand the ROI of collaborations to begin with?
Neither side wants surprises later, but the tools to manage this haven’t really caught up.
That’s why we’re building AnotherTrip.
To help content creators and brands bring structure and clarity to collaborations, without turning it into a tax advice service or killing the creative side of the work. While providing analytics for both parties on the content that worked.
For content creators, our meta-verified tech platform is designed to:
- Keep a clear record of paid and gifted collaborations - Your deliverables, payments, and gifts are all automatically logged for each campaign, no DMs, no spreadsheets and no email chains. - Manage all your campaigns and even find new collab opportunities - Store all your documentation and deliverables in one place - Automatically perform a self audit on your previous collaboration history. Helps your organise records and generate an export you can share with your accountant. - View campaign stats, posts, and activity over time to understand what’s performing well and keep a clean audit trail.
The good news is, we’re currently onboarding creators and brands to our pilot programme. No commitment, just early access to a clear collaboration management platform and the chance to have your say in how it grows.
I’d love to hear from you all! - Are you already tracking gifted stays or PR trips today? - Have you seen changes in how “free” gifts are treated for tax where you’re based? - What tools (if any) are you currently using to stay organised?
Happy to answer questions and learn from others’ experiences, this is a space that’s changing fast!
Marketing and Public Relations Consultant, MKR Communications
Great info. Are you seeing differences by market? Some creators seem far more cautious about gifted stays now, while others still handle things informally. There’s probably a big opportunity for processes that make valuation and expectations transparent upfront rather than something creators have to untangle later.
Thanks Maureen. Yes absolutely seeing differences by market. In countries where the rules have been clearer for longer (like the UK and Ireland), we're noticing more creators are at least aware they should be tracking gifted collaborations, even if they're not always sure how. But in many other markets, it's still very much the Wild West, with most activity happening informally through DMs and email chains. What's really interesting is that the divide isn't just geographic. It also depends on the creator's scale and sophistication. Established creators with accountants or managers tend to, but not always, be much more cautious and systematic, while newer or part-time creators often don't know there's anything to even track. On the brand side, we're seeing similar patterns. Larger hospitality groups and tourism boards are starting to ask for better documentation and valuation processes upfront, partly for compliance and partly to justify ROI. Smaller properties and independent brands are often still operating on handshake agreements. It is still all very fragmented at this time. Its this process that we are trying to change here. Where no collaboration will happen until both sides understand the obligations and expectations. The clarity benefits everyone.
Brilliant concept! Bringing structure to creator-brand collaborations is exactly what the hospitality industry needs to scale digital marketing efficiently. Great job!
Hi Tina, Happy to have a call if you want to chat about some of the different things to look out for. Some countries allow their content creators to do Fam/Press trips and these currently do not count as revenue for the creator so they do not have to pay tax on that, but for this the trip has to be well documented as a fam trip from the start. It can not be an afterthought. At this stage it is very much a country by country ruling. Let me know if you want to have a brief chat about what we have seen so far and things to consider from your side.
Hi Suze, micro creators tend to be from the 10k to 100k follower count and then nano creators below that and macro creators are 100k+. What we are building is for all creators sizes though. The issues exist for any creator size. I see you are UK based so have a read of this taxhelpforhustles.campaign.gov.uk/tax-rules-content-creators/ . There is a section there about gifts for promotional work. It doesn't matter what size creator you are the obligations are still the same. So we are trying to fix that process for all creators and brands. Happy to jump on a call to show what we are doing anytime
Ah yes we are currently running the closed alpha on the marketplace collab feature. If you sign up creator.anothertrip.com/register there is an option to be contacted when it opens up for everyone to use. We are releasing new features weekly so feel free to contact me at gavin@anothertrip.com with any feature requests
Hi Rachel, thank you! You can register here creator.anothertrip.com/register . It is an ongoing process with new features every week so early feedback on what would be useful to you is more than welcome! You can send any feedback to gavin@anothertrip.com and if you would like a call about feedback or onboarding I am more than happy to Cheers
Love this! As a tech agency working with hospitality brands, we see firsthand how important streamlined tools are for social success and tracking ROI. Wishing the team the best with this launch!
+ 462 others joined this month
Comments
Hi Travel Massive Community,
My name is Gavin Rooney and I’m the founder & CEO of AnotherTrip, an Irish startup. With 12 years in travel and hospitality and 20 years in tech, I started AnotherTrip after hearing the same pain from creators and travel brands: collaborations are still being run through DMs and spreadsheets, deliverables get messy, organic performance is hard to attribute and record-keeping is often an afterthought.
This matters more than ever as more and more countries have started to treat gifted stays and PR trips as taxable income when provided in exchange for promotion.
What's happening? Tax and free gift in the same sentence sounds wrong but it is increasingly common.
Unfortunately it’s true! In many countries, gifted stays, free trips, and PR trips and experiences are all now considered taxable income for content creators, even when no money changes hands, when these things are given in exchange for promotion.
This means:
- A free hotel stay
- A gifted experience/tour/activity
- A PR trip can now in many cases also be considered taxable
These can all be treated as taxable transactions, depending on where you’re based, alongside any additional payments or benefits provided. For example, here's the Irish rules (www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tdm/income-tax-capital-gains-tax-corporation-tax/part-04/04-01-22.pdf), as well as the UK rules on this (taxhelpforhustles.campaign.gov.uk/tax-rules-content-creators/). We'd really recommend you to check out the rules in your own tax residence country!
The biggest challenge is that most of this activity still happens informally and is agreed over DMs or email chains, with random records of what was gifted, what it was worth, or how it should be reported.
Content creators are often left asking:
- Wait, what? Do I need to pay tax on this?
- What value was this even worth I can’t remember?
- Where and how should I even be tracking this stuff?
And there’s two sides to this coin, brands are also under growing pressure to keep better records of collaborations as regulations across countries evolve. And without records how can they even begin to understand the ROI of collaborations to begin with?
Neither side wants surprises later, but the tools to manage this haven’t really caught up.
That’s why we’re building AnotherTrip.
To help content creators and brands bring structure and clarity to collaborations, without turning it into a tax advice service or killing the creative side of the work. While providing analytics for both parties on the content that worked.
For content creators, our meta-verified tech platform is designed to:
- Keep a clear record of paid and gifted collaborations
- Your deliverables, payments, and gifts are all automatically logged for each campaign, no DMs, no spreadsheets and no email chains.
- Manage all your campaigns and even find new collab opportunities
- Store all your documentation and deliverables in one place
- Automatically perform a self audit on your previous collaboration history. Helps your organise records and generate an export you can share with your accountant.
- View campaign stats, posts, and activity over time to understand what’s performing well and keep a clean audit trail.
The good news is, we’re currently onboarding creators and brands to our pilot programme. No commitment, just early access to a clear collaboration management platform and the chance to have your say in how it grows.
I’d love to hear from you all!
- Are you already tracking gifted stays or PR trips today?
- Have you seen changes in how “free” gifts are treated for tax where you’re based?
- What tools (if any) are you currently using to stay organised?
Happy to answer questions and learn from others’ experiences, this is a space that’s changing fast!
Thanks for reading,
Gavin
Great info. Are you seeing differences by market? Some creators seem far more cautious about gifted stays now, while others still handle things informally. There’s probably a big opportunity for processes that make valuation and expectations transparent upfront rather than something creators have to untangle later.
Thanks Maureen. Yes absolutely seeing differences by market. In countries where the rules have been clearer for longer (like the UK and Ireland), we're noticing more creators are at least aware they should be tracking gifted collaborations, even if they're not always sure how. But in many other markets, it's still very much the Wild West, with most activity happening informally through DMs and email chains.
What's really interesting is that the divide isn't just geographic. It also depends on the creator's scale and sophistication. Established creators with accountants or managers tend to, but not always, be much more cautious and systematic, while newer or part-time creators often don't know there's anything to even track.
On the brand side, we're seeing similar patterns. Larger hospitality groups and tourism boards are starting to ask for better documentation and valuation processes upfront, partly for compliance and partly to justify ROI. Smaller properties and independent brands are often still operating on handshake agreements. It is still all very fragmented at this time.
Its this process that we are trying to change here. Where no collaboration will happen until both sides understand the obligations and expectations. The clarity benefits everyone.
Brilliant concept! Bringing structure to creator-brand collaborations is exactly what the hospitality industry needs to scale digital marketing efficiently. Great job!
Exciting News, I am interested to bring Papua New Guinea Content Creators along in this trip. Appreciate your feedback.
Hi Tina, Happy to have a call if you want to chat about some of the different things to look out for. Some countries allow their content creators to do Fam/Press trips and these currently do not count as revenue for the creator so they do not have to pay tax on that, but for this the trip has to be well documented as a fam trip from the start. It can not be an afterthought. At this stage it is very much a country by country ruling. Let me know if you want to have a brief chat about what we have seen so far and things to consider from your side.
Sounds interesting - could you define what size you see micro-creator accounts being? For example, would we be included?
Hi Suze, micro creators tend to be from the 10k to 100k follower count and then nano creators below that and macro creators are 100k+. What we are building is for all creators sizes though. The issues exist for any creator size. I see you are UK based so have a read of this taxhelpforhustles.campaign.gov.uk/tax-rules-content-creators/ . There is a section there about gifts for promotional work. It doesn't matter what size creator you are the obligations are still the same. So we are trying to fix that process for all creators and brands. Happy to jump on a call to show what we are doing anytime
Hi Gavin, we use an accountant who is au fait with all of that - the part we're most interested in is collaboration opportunities.
Ah yes we are currently running the closed alpha on the marketplace collab feature. If you sign up creator.anothertrip.com/register there is an option to be contacted when it opens up for everyone to use. We are releasing new features weekly so feel free to contact me at gavin@anothertrip.com with any feature requests
I'd be happy to try this out. How do I get started?
Hi Rachel, thank you! You can register here creator.anothertrip.com/register . It is an ongoing process with new features every week so early feedback on what would be useful to you is more than welcome! You can send any feedback to gavin@anothertrip.com and if you would like a call about feedback or onboarding I am more than happy to
Cheers
Love this! As a tech agency working with hospitality brands, we see firsthand how important streamlined tools are for social success and tracking ROI. Wishing the team the best with this launch!