How to Make Money as a Travel Influencer

Social media has opened the door for users to generate income through their content, by partnering with brands that offer payment in exchange for reaching the influencers’ audience. Successful influencers must build their brand, gain a sizable following, and focus on a specific target audience.

One kind of influencer that has really thrived since the world reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic is the travel influencer. These individuals travel the world and impress their audience by sharing their trips, and giving advice on destinations and tours. They generate income by creating brand partnerships.

However, when there seems to be one too many travel influencers out there, you must find a way to stand out and strategize the best business plan to guarantee that your travels and your postings on social media will actually give you an income. How can you do this? There are five easy steps you can take to make sure that you become successful in this new career path.

Monetizing Travel Content

When you start off as a travel influencer, you need to understand that the money won’t start coming in the moment you make your first post. You have to work towards that goal and come up with different ideas to guarantee your content stands out from the rest of the travel influencers. Once you’ve differentiated yourself, you can begin monetizing travel content.

However, it may be tricky to quickly understand how to monetize your content or what steps to take in order to generate an income. Luckily, nowadays there are simpled solutions that allow you to create your own online travel agency directly through your social media. A platform like this one allows you to have direct access to the best prices in hotels, plane tickets, car rentals, and any activities you want to do or recommend at the destination. It also gives you the opportunity to monetize your following by allowing followers to book the trips you recommend.

Sponsored Travel Collaborations

If you really pay attention while scrolling through social media, you will notice that certain posts on these platforms will have a sponsor disclosure. Some posts will have an “ad” label, use a specific sponsored hashtag, or say “paid sponsorship.” This is a disclaimer so whoever the following is, knows that the influencer is being paid for posting about that specific product or service. This is something that travel influencers can do as well and it would be known as sponsored travel collaboration.

How can this be done? By creating the perfect network with hotels, airlines, and companies that do tours or activities. This will guarantee that if the following is there and the posts are of their liking, you will be offered a free stay at a hotel, free plane tickets to a particular destination, or the opportunity to go on a tour for free. The only thing you need to do is make sure that you document everything on social media and give a good review to your followers, encouraging them to book the trip you are recommending. That way, your traveling will be sponsored and you will be able to create content for your followers, staying true to your brand and your voice.

Brand Partnerships for Influencers

The same way that social media has disclosures for paid sponsorships, it has them for brand partnerships. Brand partnerships for influencers aren’t something new, but they have become more popular in recent years as the usage of social media has increased. There are no specific restrictions on these platforms, but the content shared as part of a brand partnership must be labeled as such. In this case, there will be a label saying “ad” or a hashtag for paid advertisement — this depends on the platform you are using as an influencer.

By posting a brand deal on social media, you have the opportunity to redirect your followers to purchase the product directly from your photo, video, story, or reel. As a travel influencer, there are different brand partnerships you can establish. You can focus on products that your followers may need for traveling such as suitcases, backpacks, neck pillows for the plane, or even skincare products if you’re talking about a trip to the beach. The key in these partnerships is making sure the brands you work with align with the kind of content you post and the followers you have.

Affiliate Marketing for Travel Influencers

Working with digital platforms has opened the door to a different kind of marketing that benefits travel influencers. One kind of marketing that has become very popular and helps generate an income is affiliate marketing. What does that mean? It is an arrangement with brands, online retailers, airlines, hotels, and tour companies in which you as a travel influencer would earn a commission for every sale generated from your referrals.

Affiliate marketing for travel influencers is one of the best ways in which you can have an income as a travel influencer. Each brand you work with will offer a different commission depending on how many sales they make from your recommendations, how many visits their website gets, or how many views a particular post of yours receives. Commission will vary depending on the brand and the followers you have. With this kind of marketing, you can earn a commission by promoting flights, hotels, car rentals, tours or activities, particular destinations, or products travelers need for their journey.

Building a Travel Influencer Brand

Even though having the opportunity to establish sponsored travel collaborations, brand partnerships, and a smart affiliate marketing strategy helps grow as a travel influencer, one of the most important elements to succeeding and making an income out of this, is to focus on building a travel influencer brand. The image that you share with your followers whether through videos, photos, or reels has to match every time, guaranteeing that your voice is understood by them. This is what will make them want to keep coming back to watch your content. You need to have a unique voice that stands out from the rest of the travel influencers.

A great way to build your brand is to know how to communicate with your followers and to provide the advice on traveling that they are looking for. One way to do this is by working with a platform that will not only allow your followers to book trips directly from your suggestions, but give you access to their travel and search records so you know what they are looking for and what to suggest or promote next.