Working with a travel copywriter

Travel copywriter

Working with a specialist travel copywriter can boost your sales and bookings through writing that inspires, informs and persuades your audience.

Sure, it’s fun to write about holidays, tours or destinations. But a good travel copywriter will know that the purpose of the copy is, first and foremost, to drive bookings and enquiries.

Once you’ve hooked your audience with a stunning visual, whether it’s of a historic city, white-sand beach or cosy mountain chalet, you’ll need to explain to your audience why they should book with you.

When you work with me, I’ll take on your brand voice, draw out your USPs, connect with your target audience, and highlight the very best of your products and services.

A professionally written website, brochure or even blog could persuade a potential client to choose you over someone else. With a decade’s worth of travel industry experience behind me, I can ensure your travel copywriting perfectly positions you as their best choice.

My travel copywriting services

Below is a taste of what I can offer as a freelance travel copywriter. Don’t see what you’re looking for? No problem. Contact me and let’s talk.

Website copywriting

I’m sure you’ve heard this one before: your website’s your shop window. And I have to agree. No matter where they’ve seen you advertised, whether it’s in a print ad or on Facebook, it’s more than likely your prospective clients are going to head straight to your website to check you out before going any further.

Your website gives you the power to showcase your expertise, your destination knowledge, your personality, and your professionalism all at once. And those stunning hotel and destination images are going to need some inspirational, results-driven copywriting and calls to action alongside them.

Let’s work together to really make your website stand out with professional SEO-optimised website copywriting.

Destination guide, tour itinerary and product copywriting

Introduced a new hotel, tour or destination? Let me make it sound amazing and get your audience in the holiday mindset. Or if you feel like your website or brochure’s sounding lacklustre, let me liven up your product descriptions or start them all from scratch.

I’ve got years’ worth of experience writing product descriptions for hotels, cruise ships and destinations and, inevitably, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve. I’ll ensure your brand’s tone of voice remains consistent, everything’s formatted correctly, and that important balance between selling to your audience and inspiring them is achieved.

Travel blogs

There are tons of benefits when it comes to travel blogging. A steady stream of blog content will boost your SEO, keep your audience engaged and position you as an industry authority. There’s more to blogging than picking ideas out of thin air, though: if used strategically, they can support your wider marketing strategy, be repurposed for email campaigns, and promote a certain product or service.

But I get it: travel blogging can be difficult and time consuming. Coming up with ideas, writing, sourcing images. It’s no wonder it falls by the wayside in some businesses. Put your travel blog in my hands and I’ll write you well-researched, inspirational, SEO-optimised travel blogs you’ll want to share. I can even come up with ideas and put together a content marketing strategy in line with your wider business strategy and goals.

Travel brochure copywriting

Creating a travel brochure from scratch can feel like a monumental task, with lots of elements to consider. There may be introduction, contents and branding pages, product descriptions, pricing information, titles and taglines to consider, not to mention proofreading and editing. And that’s aside from the wider design process. Having worked in-house for tour operators in the past, I’m more than familiar with travel brochure production, and I’m happy to work with you to come up with the perfect pagination as well as write that all important copy. If you’ve already written your brochure, I also offer an editing and proofreading service.

Advertising and advertorial copywriting

Writing advertising copy is an art in itself. To write successful ad copy, you need to know what you’d like the outcome of the ad to be, who your target audience is, and what kind of space you’re working with, whether it be a small quarter page, or a double-page spread. Catchy taglines, engaging body copy, and clever calls to action all factor in, and every element works together to produce an ad that will boost brand power and generate leads.

Advertorials are slightly different in that the reader shouldn’t feel like they’re being ‘sold to’. Advertorials should be informative, educational, inspiring, interesting and, above all, a good read followed by a strong call to action.

I’m familiar with advertising codes of practice, and can work with you to produce ads and advertorials that creatively and cleverly showcase your travel destination or product.

How did I become a travel copywriter?

I’m often asked how I fell into this career, so for those of you that want to learn more, perhaps find out how to become a travel copywriter yourself, or simply scope out my experience, read on…

Itchy feet. The travel bug. Wanderlust. It goes by all sorts of names but, in short, I’ve always been driven to explore.

Growing up, camping and caravanning holidays in France and the UK were the yearly norm, and when I was still a teen, my first solo adventure was a month volunteering at a game reserve just outside Kruger National Park in South Africa. My Lion King-obsessed inner child was in her element!

But the turning point where I realised I wanted to work in travel came when I was a 21-year-old English student, before I even knew what copywriting was.

I’d spent my four-month-long summer break travelling around the USA, with most of that time spent working as a front desk agent and hiking guide at a lodge high up in the mountains of Wyoming. I learned to ride a horse, I went square dancing on Friday nights, and I spotted bears, moose and bald eagles.

When I went back to university that year, the chance to become a student marketing coordinator for the company I secured my US visa with came up. They specialized in helping students work and volunteer abroad, and I didn’t hesitate to go for the job. I knew I wanted others to experience the excitement I got out of travel, and it turns out that was the first of many jobs I’d have in the industry.

After graduating, writing portfolio in hand, I was placed straight into my first job writing over 150 destination descriptions for a travel company’s new website. Day in, day out, I researched and wrote about places all over the globe.

In fact, before launching Expressions Copy & Content, there was a certain theme to the positions I held. They included:

  • A content marketing executive at Caribtours, a tour operator specialising in luxury beach holidays
  • An in-house copywriter for Imagine Cruising, a cruise tour operator specialising in amazing cruise-and-stay holidays
  • A digital marketing assistant at the headquarters of Hostelling International, a worldwide network of backpacker hostels

Luckily for me, I wasn’t exclusively desk-bound. My work has taken me around the world, from walking through the drenching thunder of Victoria Falls to partying on a yacht in Barbados. I’ve blogged, tweeted, written brochures and come up with taglines since taking that first travel marketing job at university.

But most importantly, I’ve had real insight into what it takes to succeed and endure in the travel industry.

And I firmly believe that great copywriting, whether that’s on your website, in your brochure or on your social media channels, is a massive part of it.

When you work with me, you’ll be putting your copywriting into the hands of someone who’s been in your shoes before. Working in the travel industry is fun and rewarding, but it can also be tough, fast-paced and competitive. I’ll combine your business goals with my love of globetrotting, and deliver work that engages your audience and boosts sales.

Like all wanderlusting writers, I’ve got a catalogue of personal travel experience to draw from, too. Some of my highlights include getting up close to elephants in Botswana, hiking around the beautiful Lake Bled in Slovenia, partying on New Orleans’ infamous Bourbon Street, kayaking in St Kitts, wine tasting in France, and milling around Christmas markets in Munich.

I might not always be on the road or hauled up in a hotel, but whether I’m researching on my laptop or planning my next real-life trip, I can’t wait to see where my career as a freelance travel copywriter takes me next.

How did I become a travel copywriter?

I’m often asked how I fell into this career, so for those of you that want to learn more, perhaps find out how to become a travel copywriter yourself, or simply scope out my experience, read on…

Itchy feet. The travel bug. Wanderlust. It goes by all sorts of names but, in short, I’ve always been driven to explore.

Growing up, camping and caravanning holidays in France and the UK were the yearly norm, and when I was still a teen, my first solo adventure was a month volunteering at a game reserve just outside Kruger National Park in South Africa. My Lion King-obsessed inner child was in her element!

But the turning point where I realised I wanted to work in travel came when I was a 21-year-old English student, before I even knew what copywriting was.

 

I’d spent my four-month-long summer break travelling around the USA, with most of that time spent working as a front desk agent and hiking guide at a lodge high up in the mountains of Wyoming. I learned to ride a horse, I went square dancing on Friday nights, and I spotted bears, moose and bald eagles.

When I went back to university that year, the chance to become a student marketing coordinator for the company I secured my US visa with came up. They specialised in helping students work and volunteer abroad, and I didn’t hesitate to go for the job. I knew I wanted others to experience the excitement I got out of travel, and it turns out that was the first of many jobs I’d have in the industry.

After graduating, writing portfolio in hand, I was placed straight into my first job writing over 150 destination descriptions for a travel company’s new website. Day in, day out, I researched and wrote about places all over the globe.

In fact, before launching Expressions Copy & Content, there was a certain theme to the positions I held. They included:

  • A content marketing executive at Caribtours, a tour operator specialising in luxury beach holidays
  • An in-house copywriter for Imagine Cruising, a cruise tour operator specialising in amazing cruise-and-stay holidays
  • A digital marketing assistant at the headquarters of Hostelling International, a worldwide network of backpacker hostels

Luckily for me, I wasn’t exclusively desk-bound. My work has taken me around the world, from walking through the drenching thunder of Victoria Falls to partying on a yacht in Barbados. I’ve blogged, tweeted, written brochures and come up with taglines since taking that first travel marketing job at university.

But most importantly, I’ve had real insight into what it takes to succeed and endure in the travel industry.

And I firmly believe that great copywriting, whether that’s on your website, in your brochure or on your social media channels, is a massive part of it.

When you work with me, you’ll be putting your copywriting into the hands of someone who’s been in your shoes before. Working in the travel industry is fun and rewarding, but it can also be tough, fast-paced and competitive. I’ll combine your business goals with my love of globetrotting, and deliver work that engages your audience and boosts sales.

Like all wanderlusting writers, I’ve got a catalogue of personal travel experience to draw from, too. Some of my highlights include getting up close to elephants in Botswana, hiking around the beautiful Lake Bled in Slovenia, partying on New Orleans’ infamous Bourbon Street, kayaking in St Kitts, wine tasting in France, and milling around Christmas markets in Munich.

I may not always be on the road or hauled up in a hotel, but whether I’m researching on my laptop or planning my next real-life trip, I can’t wait to see where my career as a freelance travel copywriter takes me next.

If you could use the support of an experienced travel copywriter, I’d love to hear from you. Contact me to find out more and request a quote, or connect with me on LinkedIn.