How to Be a Travel Content Creator in 2026 (A Quick Guide)
Looking to become a travel content creator? Here’s everything you need to know to become a travel content creator in 2024 — from a full-time travel content creator!
This blog post is brought to you by my 💡How to Build a Niche Community Online Course
Being a travel content creator is a job like no other.
If being paid to travel and create content is a dream of yours, I’m happy to share that it’s not only a viable career path, but thousands of people are doing as we speak, including me!
I made a plan to become a full-time content creator in 2020 and went full-time in 2022 @candaceabroad. Making a living working with travel brands, hotels and experiences in my favourite city and across the world.
So, how can you do it too?
In this post I’ll be sharing exactly how to go from having a dream of becoming a travel content creator, to making it a reality. Let’s get into it!
Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Successful Travel Content Creator in 2024
Step 1: Pick Your Unique Corner in The Travel Niche
The world of travel is vast and broad with a multitude of sub-niches to explore.
To really stand out and resonate with your audience, you’ll need to find that unique corner in the travel niche that aligns with your interests and expertise.
Choosing a travel niche doesn’t have to be difficult. Simply think about the way you travel?
Are you all about luxury travel, or is budget backpacking more your style? Are you a foodie globetrotting for unique food experiences, or are you more into capturing stunning landscapes? The first step towards becoming a successful travel content creator is finding your unique perspective.
And then learning how to create content to share it with the world.
Step 2: Learn Core Content Creation Skills
The truth is, what makes a travel content creator successful is their ability to make high-quality travel content that connects with an audience.
Start by picking 5-7 travel content creators you follow and really resonate with. Watch their 10 latest videos, what do they all have in common? What is their editing style like? What’s the structure of their video? What’s their voiceover like?
Don’t be daunted by the idea of mastering some core skills before embarking on your travel content creator journey, as you’ll only get better with time. Remember, any skill can be learned with interest, dedication, and a bit of patience.
For being a travel content creator this means…
- Learning to take beautiful videos and/or photographs
- Being able to articulate the experience of a place through storytelling and writing.
- Understanding basic SEO and social media marketing strategies (like growing a niche community online) to boost your online visibility.
To take better photos and videos, watch these tutorials on shooting better travel content with your phone (all the equipment you need if you’re just planning to be on Instagram and Tik Tok!), to get better at storytelling and writing check out these videos, and to understand SEO check out Neil Patel, this article on Instagram SEO and this one on the latest Tik Tok SEO.
Step 3: Deciding Your Travel Content Creator Platforms
Once you have your travel niche and basic content creator skills under your belt, it’s time to choose your platform. I personally use my blog, Instagram, and Tik Tok but there are tons of options to consider when it comes to where your travel content would live best.
Travel Blog
A travel blog gives you the freedom to publish long-form content, incorporating text, images, videos, and interactive maps.
There’s enough room to share in-depth travel guides, experiences, itineraries, and other detailed content, and monetize it using the power of SEO (more on that later).
Who should use it: Travel content creators who love writing and providing detailed, informative travel guides, opinions, and narratives. It’s also useful for those aiming to monetize their content through ads, sponsored content, or affiliate marketing.
P.S. – I host this travel blog on WP Engine and use a theme from 17th Avenue Designs!
Instagram is perfect for travel content creators who possess strong short video or photography skills (or are willing to learn) it’s visually-centric platform is perfect for sharing travel content, and travel is VERY visual based.
Who should use it: Everyone should have Instagram as a base account. Given the ability to DM, post stories, and visit external links all from the same hub, it’s worth it for every travel content creator to use in their business. Just be prepared to consistently create visually cohesive content from your travels.
Tik Tok
Tik Tok has gained significant popularity due to its short, engaging video format. The platform thrives on trends and casual content, which can earn you brand recognition quickly if leveraged correctly.
Who should use it: If you plan on using short-form video in your travel content, (which you should) I’d highly recommend getting on Tik Tok. The best part? You can repurpose all your content to Instagram Reels too!
YouTube
YouTube is a video streaming platform where you can share vlogs, travel guides, tips, reviews, and more. This platform allows you to engage with your audience for longer via video content.
Bear in mind when it comes to travel content on Youtube, the competition is steep and so is the learning curve. Be prepared to spend at least one year honing your video craft before expecting any traction.
Who should use it: Creators who are comfortable in front of a camera and have video editing skills. YouTube is for you if you prefer to share stories, guides and travel adventures via long-form videos.
P.S. – You can use Facebook and Pinterest too as supplementary accounts, but these four are the main ones you should consider.
Tips for Choosing the Right Platform
- Identify Your Strengths: Choose a platform that aligns with your skills – be it writing, photography, or video creation.
- Know Your Audience: Consider where your target audience spends most of their time. For example, if it’s young women that love solo travel they may be more on Instagram and Tik Tok, but family travelers may use blogs more for their trip research.
- Content Format Preference: Do you prefer creating long detailed posts or creative short videos? Your choice of platform should align with your content preference.
- Skills & Passion: Align your platform choice with your skills, talents, and genuine interest.
- Sustainability: Choose a platform that you can consistently maintain and grow with over time as a travel content creator (for example, I tried to be a Youtube travel content creator but found I just wasn’t able to be as consistent as I was on my blog, Instagram, and Tik Tok).
Step 4: Understanding Human Connection As a Travel Content Creator
Becoming a successful travel content creator isn’t just about the breathtaking pictures you take or the comprehensive travel guides you write.
What truly drives success in this space is the connection you cultivate with your audience.
Engaging with your community is a vital piece of the puzzle. As a travel content creator this means:
Be Responsive and Engage in the Comment Section
Especially with travel your followers are bound to ask you questions about your trip (‘How much was the hotel you stayed at in this video?’, ‘Where is this?’) and a surefire way to limit the community you build is by ignoring their questions.
Take the time to respond to at least 80% of your comments with personal responses that strengthen your relationships with your followers and position you as an authority in your travel niche.
Encourage Interaction With Your Destinations
Instead of simply broadcasting where you traveled, make your posts a two-way interaction.
Ask questions and seek opinions. This not only invites participation but also provides valuable insights into your audience.
For example, asking them if they’ve been to the destination you’ve made a video on, what their favourite part of your trip was or if they’d do X experience you showcased in the video, etc.
Create a Community Hashtag
It shouldn’t be a surprise that people that follow travel content creators, love to travel. And the more you can make them feel a part of your travel journey the stronger your community will be.
I suggest making a unique, branded hashtag for your community to make your brand stand out from the beginning. For example, at @candaceabroad I made (and trademarked) the community hashtag #HappyLondoning — which has become synonymous with my brand and the niche of travel content I create. Don’t underestimate it!
Step 5: Monetizing as a Travel Content Creator
Turning your travel passions into profits can be both exciting and challenging.
Luckily, there are numerous strategies to monetize your brand as a travel content creator.
Below, are the most popular and proven methods (all of which I use to monetize my travel content creator brand Candace Abroad):
➡️ Sponsored Content
One of the most common ways to monetize your brand is through sponsored posts.
This is when businesses pay you to feature their product or service in your content.
As a travel content creator this could be everything from paying to feature a hotel stay in a blog post or featuring a travel experience in your social media posts.
Action Steps:
Step 1: Build a niche community online in your travel niche to attract sponsors.
Step 2: Create a professional media kit detailing your audience demographics, engagement rates, and brand pitch (we go over this in depth in how to pitch brands for paid partnerships).
Step 3: Reach out to potential sponsors or sign up to platforms like Upfluence or AspireIQ that connect creators with brands.
Step 4: Negotiate your rates and sign a contract outlining expectations.
Step 5: Deliver quality content that meets your agreement with sponsors and discloses the sponsorship to your audience.
➡️ Affiliate Marketing
💡 If you’re looking for the best affiliate program for travel bloggers I highly recommend Travelpayouts. It’s free to use with 100+ travel brands all under one roof (like GetYourGuide, Booking.com, Agoda & more!) + it’s super easy to create unique and trackable links and earn money instantly, no matter what level you’re at as a travel blogger. Join me and 500,000+ other travel bloggers using it to monetize our sites!
Affiliate marketing involves promoting products or services and receiving a commission for any sales made through your unique referral link.
This method can generate income long after you initially promote the product or service making it a great passive income stream if done correctly.
As a travel content creator you’ll be promoting things that relate to travel like accommodation, activities and transportation.
For every trip you go on, have a think about what brands you used as part of it in those categories and if there’s a potential to promote it through an affiliate link!
Action Steps:
Step 1: Identify products or services that align with your brand and audience’s interests.
Step 2: Sign up for the brand’s affiliate program (you can find this through Googling ‘{Brand Name} Affiliate Program’.
Step 3: Use your unique affiliate link/codes in your content.
Step 4: Regularly promote your endorsed products/services through your travel content.
➡️ Sell Your Own Products or Services
If you have a knack for something travel-related, consider creating and selling your own products.
You could craft unique travel itineraries, sell high-quality travel photos, or even write an e-book about your travel tips.
Action Steps:
Step 1: Identify a product or service you could sell (e.g., travel guides, PDF itineraries using Canva, photography prints etc.).
Step 2: Develop and design your product or service with free tutorials.
Step 3: Use an e-commerce platform like Shopify to sell your products/services.
Step 4: Promote your offerings to your audience through your content (again, make sure you have an engaged niche audience before you promote your product to ensure you’ll have people that’ll buy it!).
➡️ Ad Revenue
Running ads on your blog or YouTube channel is the most time-consuming way to build a revenue stream as a travel content creator, but the payoff can be massive and provide a steady income stream, especially as your traffic grows.
For Youtube, this is through Google AdSense, and for blogs, the holy grail is getting into Mediavine.
Action Steps:
Step 1: Learn about SEO and consistently create quality content to increase your website or Youtube traffic.
Step 2: Join the Youtube Partner Program or Mediavine.
Step 3: Install the ad code on your blog or switch on monetization for your channel.
Step 4: Analyze and adjust your content strategy/ads to optimize and increase your income.
Step 6: Keep Taking Action & Learning From Other Travel Content Creators!
In truth, knowing all of the steps that come with how to be a travel content creator will only get you so far. Everything, absolutely everything, comes down to action.
From my perspective this means continually learning from other travel content creators and taking action on what you learn.
Action Steps:
- Attend workshops, webinars, or courses related to your travel niche or skills you’re looking to learn to fast track your journey.
- Continuously reassess and refine your content strategy as a travel content creator.
- Network with fellow travel content creators
Your adventure awaits – are you ready to take the leap?
Happy creating,
Ready to Build Your Community As an Influencer?
Learn the EXACT system I used to build a 300,000 audience online as an influencer.
