BlogAds founder and the Netherlands Board of Tourism came up with an interesting trade out for advertising. They are providing a free junket to the bloggers in return for advertising space on their sites are getting a free trip to the Netherlands.

According to the site Bloggers in Amsterdam that Henry Copeland (whom we got to know at a conference and is a sincerely great guy) has put up of the project, the trip will include:

• The bloggers going to Amsterdam in February ‘06 get a free roundtrip flight on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

• They’ll be able to stay for five nights at either the Lloyd Hotel or the Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky — both five star hotels near the center of Amsterdam.

• Last but not least, they get an I amsterdam Card, giving them free transportation around the city, gratis entrance to lots of museums and discounts at restaurants, etc.

It is interesting that this is occurring as many bloggers and media are taking offense at the offer. Beltway BlogRoll has this to say:

What’s more, transparency is not sufficient justification for media outlets — and that’s what blogs want the U.S. government to call them — to accept favors from an agency with an agenda. Bloggers rightly maligned columnists Armstrong Williams and Doug Bandow for taking money from the Bush administration and Abramoff. Now some of the them are guilty of similar arrangements with the government of Netherlands, and they deserve the same scorn.

and the News Sentinel of Knoxville shared these sentiments:

Bloggers of all stripes love to bloviate these days about public officials who accepted money or luxurious treatment from corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff in his attempt to curry government favor for his clients. But that doesn’t mean bloggers are above accepting pampering by people with an agenda.

I am torn to a degree. It has been a long standing practice in the  news industry to trade out advertising for tickets to events. This seems like a straight trade out that if the Netherlands gets some good publicity, so much  the better. The  bloggers must remember to be as honest and objective about their experiences.

They will be treated as visiting royalty by those in the  know, and as many bloggers are not used to getting special treatment, may succumb to the efforts of the Dutch.

But those that are taking the trip will have to remember that anything they say about the Netherlands now will be suspect. They have given up some of their moral authority on the subject and the country by accepting this relationship.

Update:

Steve Rubel jumps into the conversation and declared himself a fan of blogger junkets.