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Home » What Does the Travel Industry Need from Copywriting?

What Does the Travel Industry Need from Copywriting?

As an agency that provides digital marketing and branding solutions to the travel industry, we get to see a lot of exciting new products and services generated by the rapidly evolving world of technology. One area we’ve noticed is the rise of the ‘virtual travel agent’ – platforms such as Kayak, Trivago and Travelocity that give users access to a plethora of travel-related data and provide consumers with the tools to book travel arrangements with the click of a button.

We recently had the opportunity to join forces with one of these companies, Kayak, to develop a fun and insightful guide to their travel products. The result is a brand-new eBook called ‘The Ultimate Packet Guide to Kayak’s Travel Products’, which you can download from our website for free. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together! 

Key Takeaways

The travel industry is constantly changing, and so are its consumers. Thanks to the rise of the virtual travel agent, booking a travel plan has become a lot less complicated.

Consumers use travel agencies for various reasons – from booking a package vacation to finding a babysitter for the evening – but they all share a common trait: a lack of knowledge about what products are available to them.

Thanks to platforms such as Kayak that provide users with access to a wealth of travel-related data, the task of guiding a potential customer towards a travel product that suits their needs becomes a whole lot easier.

If you’re a travel agent looking to better understand your customers and what they want, you can start by having a close look at the content your agency creates for other companies’ travel products. One of the best sources of highly targeted and personalised content is travel blogs. These have the potential to become some of your most valuable marketing and sales tools.

The Growth Of Online Agencies For Travel

It is no secret that the travel industry has changed dramatically over the past decade. The industry went from largely focusing on package holidays to a much broader scope that includes luxury getaways, cruises and tailor-made trips. All of which can be booked online.

This shift towards online agencies for travel was made easier with the rise of internet connectivity and the advancement of eCommerce – which continues to grow exponentially every year.

Thanks to platforms such as Kayak that provide users with access to a wealth of travel-related data, the task of guiding a potential customer towards a travel product that suits their needs becomes a whole lot easier.

Forbes recently published a list of the ‘Top 40+ Online Travel Agencies’ and the industry continues to grow rapidly. According to the research, 12 of the companies on the list are either already operational or will be getting started soon.

Why Should You Get Involved In Travel Blogging?

Blogs are a fantastic source of highly targeted and personalised content that has the potential to become some of your most valuable marketing and sales tools. If you’re a travel agent or a brand that specialises in travel, why not consider getting involved in travel blogging?

The main appeal of travel blogging is its target audience. While some blogs cover general news and stories from around the world, most of the content focuses on a specific country or region. When a potential customer types in “Tulum, Mexico” or “Lisbon, Portugal” into the search bar of their browser, they are presented with a host of travel blogs and websites that all deal with the country or region they are searching for.

Include keywords and key phrases in your blog posts and websites’ meta tags and you’re sure to appear high up in the search results when a consumer types in their search query.

How Do I Start A Travel Blog?

If you’re looking to get involved in travel blogging, where should you begin? With the basics, of course!

Make sure you have a working space that you love – whether it’s a spare bedroom in your house or a corner of a meeting room at your agency. This is your ‘working space’ and it will serve as the inspiration for the content you put out there.

Next, you need a laptop, a decent desk and chair, a big screen TV or a projector and a wireless internet connection.

You will also need to decide on a blog name and theme (we recommend using WordPress for these tasks).

Once you have your laptop and all the essentials, you can start by creating a shopping list of the equipment you need to get started.

The Equipment You Need To Be Successful

A laptop – this could be your old one from school or work, or even a second-hand one that you buy from a company such as Ebay. Whatever your reasons for buying a laptop, make sure it’s got a fast hard drive, an internet connection and a decent webcam.

A projector – if you’ve got a large enough screen, you can show your content (whether it’s a movie or a PowerPoint presentation), in glorious high definition, on it.

At a bare minimum, you should get a projector that can display content from laptops and mobile phones alike – and can handle full HD content.

A big screen TV – if you really want to make the most of your laptop’s display, get a big screen TV to show content from YouTube, Netflix or even your own website and social media accounts. Watching content on a TV is much easier for everyone involved (especially the others around the table during family movie night).

A mobile phone – to be able to blog, you’ll need to have a mobile phone (most professionals use their phones as their main source of work too). This could be a smartphone such as the Apple iPhone or the Google Pixel or even a basic flip phone. Whatever your reason for wanting a mobile phone – whether it’s for texting or calling – make sure you get one with a good enough camera to take quality photos for blog posts.

Having a camera on your phone allows you to instantly take a photo of anything that catches your fancy – whether it’s a beautiful sunset or a historical monument. If you plan on doing a lot of travel blogging, consider buying a travel wallet to store your travel documents in (including your passport and visa). Not only will this save you the stress of trying to find an ID every time you travel, but it will also allow you to blog about your travels without worrying about your personal safety.

A comfortable chair – if you’re going to be sitting down for long periods of time, get a nice chair to rest your butts in. Choose a high back seat with adjustable arms so that you can position them to suit your preference. Memory foam is the best kind of cushion for these types of chairs – it allows you to sink into your seat with minimal effort, while still feeling like you’re sitting on a cloud!

With these essentials taken care of, you can now start blogging about your travels. The next step is to populate your blog with content.

Create Blog Post Ideas

Once you have your laptop setup and connected to the internet, you can start creating blog post ideas. With a little brainstorming, you’ll be able to come up with a list of topics that you can cover on your blog. These topics should be of interest to your target audience and should fit with your overall brand identity.

For example, if you are a travel agent and your target audience is other travel agents, you might want to create a blog post series about best practices in travel and hospitality. The topics can range from using technology to streamline your operations to marketing yourself and your agency to prospective customers.

With a little brainstorming, you’ll be able to come up with a list of topics that you can cover on your blog. These topics should be of interest to your target audience and should fit with your overall brand identity.

Once you have your blog up and running, it’s time to start gaining some traction. The best way to do this is to use various platforms to promote your blog – from social media to email marketing.

Use Social Media To Grow Your Blog

Social media can be a valuable tool to gain access to your target audience and engage with them. When used effectively, social media can help you establish yourself as an authoritative voice in your industry while also growing your blog’s audience. 

You can use various apps on social media to organise and schedule your content, follow and connect with other bloggers, and more.

For example, if you write about luxury travels, you can use Twitter to find and connect with other travel agents that follow and value that niche.