PUTTING EAU CLAIRE ON THE MAP. The Travel Blog Exchange Conference (TBEX) has made Eau Claire its 2023 North America conference host. Content creators focused on travel will be headed to town in July 2023. (Contributed image)

The Travel Blog Exchange Conference (TBEX) is a travel blogger and content creator conference that started back in 2009 in Chicago thanks to six friends, and since then has garnered nearly 20,000 attendees. What started as a few friends meeting up to talk all things travel blogging has turned into a hub for creators and travel brands to further their community and network, and it’s soon to make its way to Eau Claire in July 2023.

TBEX has stretched worldwide, too, typically across Asia, Europe, and the United States. Previously, TBEX has been held in the Philippines, New York, Florida, Canada, and elsewhere, typically spread across a handful of days featuring pre- and post-conference tours and workshops. In 2023, TBEX will be hosted in the spring in Kalamata, Greece, and in the summer in Eau Claire.

From July 17-21, 2023, TBEX will put its wandering roots down right here, stationed in the Pablo Center at the Confluence. Pre-conference media tours will occur July 17-18 while the main conference with workshops and speakers will run from July 19-20, with post-conference tour trips beginning July 21. Cities to be toured post-conference are still being chosen, but the hope is to bring the conference’s writers and influencers to every region in Wisconsin.

“We are extremely excited to be hosting conference attendees from not only all around the United States, but internationally also,” said Benny Anderson, Visit Eau Claire’s executive director. “Not only does this conference provide direct economic impact for our area, but it also brings in a great deal of organic and earned media exposure for our city and local businesses.”

Some well-known travel creators like the Nomadic Boys (@nomadicboys on Instagram), Scott Eddy (@mrscotteddy on Instagram and TV host of Video Globetrotter), the Vaga Brothers (vagabrothers on YouTube), and more have attended the large travel conference in previous years. 

Visit Eau Claire is the host sponsor of the 2023 conference in our slice of Wisco, and the organization has been working on this effort for about two years. Luke Alex, Visit Eau Claire’s public relations manager, gave kudos to their sales team, who identified TBEX as a good candidate to bid for and after a long bidding process, won. 

”(TBEX) DECIDED THAT EAU CLAIRE WAS THE PERFECT CANDIDATE FOR THIS.”

luke Alex

visit Eau claire's pr manager

“One of the reasons that we were able to win the bid was because of the up-and-coming nature of Eau Claire,” Alex said. “TBEX loves to find the hidden gems of each state and spotlight them, and after an in-depth site visit from their team, they decided that Eau Claire was the perfect candidate for this.” 

Conference registration opened Friday, Oct. 14, and although Visit Eau Claire was unsure how many tickets had sold at this point, each conference garners hundreds of creators and brands. 

Visit TBEX’s website for more information. Content creators and brands can visit the TBEX ticket site to buy tickets.