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5 travel copywriting examples that prove you should hire a pro

Read Time 8 mins | Written by: Rob Taylor

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If you want to be competitive in the travel sector, whether you’re an airline, hotel or other travel business, you must work hard to produce content that is valuable to customers. You need your content to be found, engaged with and shared to get the word out about your business. It takes the work of expert copywriters, along with effective channel targeting and a strong understanding of the journeys and needs of your customers. Here are 5 travel copywriting examples that show why expert copywriters are so sought after.

5 travel copywriting examples from the pros

1. Personalised email marketing from Virgin

Virgin Holidays has taken the concept of personalised emails a step further. We’ve all become familiar with newsletters that include our names, but Virgin has embraced the trend wholeheartedly by placing the reader at the heart of the content’s action. They open with lines like “[name], you could be having lunch in [your destination] today”, before namedropping some enviable attractions.

Unique personalisation like this can make an email stand out when inboxes get overcrowded. This can make a certain option seem more attractive for a recipient who is subscribed to numerous travel-based companies. Your emails need to be written carefully, though, because if the personalisation goes too far it could become intrusive. With the input of an accomplished travel copywriter, you could find the right balance for your own email newsletters.

2. Comprehensive location guides from AirBNB

When it comes to area guides, no one beats AirBNB for travel copywriting. Travel guides have existed for decades, but AirBNB pool together pictures, quotes, maps and handy local tips to make holistic insider guides at countless popular global destinations all over the globe.

The guides are aimed at travellers who are researching and have yet to book their accommodation. There are clever, subtle call-to-actions (CTAs) incorporated throughout, aimed at persuading visitors to book with AirBNB, complete with useful comments from property owners rather than in-your-face promotions.

As this London guide shows, the content truly goes the extra mile and is well-written, as are the effective meta-descriptions, so it’s no surprise the travel copywriting at AirBNB earns them a place near the top of search results every single time.

3. Blog posts from Sta Travel

The blog at Sta Travel is extremely popular, thanks to its fresh and innovative takes on a wide range of travel destinations. For example, a blog post titled “How to follow Bilbo through Middle-earth…ring not required” achieved more than 1,400 social media shares, which is exactly what you need to reach the most potential customers possible.

Some may say that many Sta Travel blog titles come across like clickbait, but reeling the reader in with an enticing headline is just the beginning. The travel copywriters Sta Travel use follow up with robust, detailed content that is both informative and entertaining.

A little creativity goes a long way, and with professional copywriters, you get a written style that will appeal to your chosen target audience. Whether you aim for middle-aged travellers or students on their gap years, skilled and creative travel copywriting is a powerful way to reach your audience.

4. The detailed property descriptions of Unique Homestays

When it comes to renting a self-catering holiday home for your break, the range of choice that’s out there can be quite overwhelming. For the modern market, it simply isn’t enough to trot out a generic, standard description. You need to make your accommodation stand out from the crowd with creativity and flair in the written descriptions, along with excellent photography.

Unique Homestays utilise evocative and detailed travel writing to breathe life into the descriptions of what it’s like to stay in their properties. This includes a very informative property page that goes far above and beyond the basic details we’ve all come to expect. A very effective way of capturing the interest and imagination of the reader; something worth its weight in gold for travel copy.

5. Creative, outside-the-box social media posts from Trainline

When it comes to travel content, writing about train fares is not usually first on the list for creative, enthusiastic travel copywriters. However, if you take a look at the social media timelines of Trainline, you’ll find content that never fails to engage. It mixes informative content, tips and playful blog posts to capture interest and drive the engagement of visitors.

It’s clearly been an effective approach, since Trainline’s Facebook page alone has more than 70,000 followers, and their most popular content has achieved 500+ shares. These are the types of results you can expect to accomplish with the input of an innovative and clued-in travel copywriter.

Social media platforms are saturated with content from businesses trying to grab a few seconds of attention from jaded users scrolling through newsfeeds. You need someone who can think outside the box to create new ways to attract the interest and engagement of social media users, and the finest travel copywriting examples come from specialist writers with exactly these characteristics.

Bottom line

The takeaway from all this is that you must take your travel content a little further than your competition to stand out. Travel writing is an extremely popular niche, and customers use a variety of online channels to consume content. With so much competition, standard copy is never going to be enough to win customers over. Content must be precision-targeted, well designed and brimming with innovation. Only quality travel copywriters can achieve this with the quality you need.

When you hire the services of a copywriter or copywriting agency, you get access to experts in delivering on the interests of your customers. Travel copywriters are experts at grabbing the attention of visitors with catchy headlines that are backed up with quality, engaging content.

Stimulate the imaginations of your customers and make an impression with real quality that they can consume. And incorporate an all-important, effective call-to-action that will help build your own customer base and win the loyalty of people who you know will enjoy what you have to offer.

Main image credit: Andrew Neel
Rob Taylor