2026 MTJA Active Membership Renewal - Staff Writers, Freelance Journalists and Online Content Producers

Active Membership Renewal Checklist Overview 

• Plan to submit all renewal forms and pay dues by 5 p.m. (Central time) on Nov. 7, 2025. 
• Fill out all required fields completely and accurately. Information submitted will be used to inform your listing in the 2026 MTJA Directory, an important source of information for other members, editors, publishers and travel industry leaders.
• 2026 MTJA Active Membership Dues are $125. If dues are not received in full by 5 p.m. (Central time) on Nov. 7, 2025, a $25 late processing fee will be added to your payment. We encourage dues payment via credit card. 
• Any renewals received after Nov. 19, 2025, will not be included in the 2026 Membership Directory.  
• If you need to request a one-time year of grace because of an inability to meet membership requirements, please send a letter of explanation to Erin Schmitz at admin@mtja.us on or before Nov.  1, 2025 for review by the Board of Directors. Members seeking a year of grace still need to complete the Membership Information section of the renewal form. 
• If you have questions, please contact Erin Schmitz at admin@mtja.us or Amy Lynch at amy@amylynch.com.

Membership Terms & Conditions  

• An application to renew your MTJA Active Membership means:
• You are committed to the principles of fair, accurate and unbiased reporting on travel subjects.
• You are a professional travel journalist who receives compensation for work produced.
• Content generated during press trips, hosted/sponsored events, FAM tours or MTJA conferences is eligible for submission.

1: PDFs, screenshots or links to five unique print and/or online travel articles, columns or features (minimum 250 words each) published between Jan. 1, 2025 and Dec. 31, 2025 in outlets with audited circulation of at least 10,000 or online traffic of at least 10,000 sessions per month (on average per year). Multiple clips may cover the same topic or destination, but each submission must be unique copy and a stand-alone assignment, not a sidebar.  

Submissions must be first-run previously unpublished works, not reprints/republications. We will accept visitors' guide copy from a CVB-sponsored publication for one of the five clips.  All submissions must show byline, publication name, date of publication and entire work sample. Co-bylined articles showing two or more author names on the published work are acceptable for one of five article submissions.  If any of your qualifying clips are due to publish after the November 7th renewal deadline, please let Erin Schmitz and Amy Lynch know.  

2: Confirmation of circulation or monthly online sessions for each work sample.* Outlets listed here with Cision.com outreach figures are valid for this purpose. 

Note: Single PDF files cannot be larger than 10MB. To make a PDF on a Mac, go to “file.” Select “print” and under “PDF” (lower left corner) select “save as PDF.” To reduce PDF size, go to “file” and select “reduce file size.”