Thanks to everyone who joined us live for How To Build Partnerships That Earn last week in partnership with Stay22. It was an informative discussion delving into the current state of the travel industry from multiple perspectives: travel industry, travel creator, and travel affiliate network.
Our LIVE webinar panel had a blast talking about building partnerships.
👋 The panel: Ashley Norman (PTG Consulting, DMO representative), Kimberly Davies (Walkaboot Travel, Creator), and Félix Contant (Stay22, Platform perspective), moderated by Kateryna Topol, (Toronto Travel Massive, Paths to Travel Magazine). Give them a follow and have a look at their offerings.
Learn about our speakers and watch the webinar replay if you missed it.
👉 This webinar is a continuation of The 2025 Creators & Travel Industry Study — download and view the report anytime to see the insights from our global survey with hundreds of creators and brands.
Creators who value long term partnerships and care to get to know the company and the destination. PTG Consulting (PTG) are looking for long term relationships and is open to creative pitches about their destinations. They are also looking for destination exposure across multiple channels: immediate exposure on Instagram or TikTok and organic or paid editorial content somewhere down the line (including Substack). This is considered to be good ROI. Emerging media, alternative outlets, and newsletter opportunities are also of interest.
There is also a renewed interest in working with creators not just in the travel niche but in adjacent spaces like lifestyle, food and beverage, outdoors, and wellness. That being said, they are looking to work with people who have a good understanding of the travel industry. The channels destinations focus on are also impacted by the decisions from the client at large (which is often a government). Blogs and Facebook groups often come in play with niche markets and audiences.
👉 Micro-creators (10k followers +) are seen as valuable and PTG is working on a program to accommodate them. But it is worth noting that agencies report to higher up directors and board which traditionally look for big numbers, from the start and over time. Showing micro-creator value is a process that requires some education behind the scenes. All things considered, however, PTG will look at opportunities on a case by case basis, taking into consideration the full potential of the creator and how it aligns with their goals.
It is important to note that travel providers (PR, DMO, etc) often work to satisfy multiple stakeholders within the destination which affects the kind of partnerships they choose to invest in. Recognizing that there are many parties behind the scenes PTG works on fairly evenly divided set of tactics between paid partnerships, earned media, FAM/Press trips, special events, road shows, and so on.
🎬 Video-first campaigns all around are very important at this time.
For context, globally PTG work with a few large DMOs including multiple destinations within Mexico, resorts in Europe, various destinations in the USA, El Salvador, Chile, Nanjing China, and more. US and Canada markets is where PTG sees some of the highest spends. For example, Mexico might spend half a million dollars annually on the primary market (ie. Canada). For paid partnerships for those size of DMOs they will be looking for creators with 200,000+ followers, the fees typically are $5K+ USD depending on the type of content (higher for YouTube campaigns, for example).
🇪🇺 Europe seems to have more opportunity for negotiations for trade and deliverables, here budgets go a bit further. Latin America offers more trade agreements, paid partnerships, however, are becoming more common with rates ranging from $800 USD to $2,000 USD for influencers with 1mln+ followers.
Engagement (3%+), hitting the mark on content inclusions and format, showing your audiences how to experience the destination with helpful and actionable consumer driven content.
📈 Shares and views are always a metric they look at.
A combination of using an influencer platform, Klear, which allows them to see engagement rates for influencers, the desirable number is at least 3%. Outside of Klear, a lot of influencers they work with is a collective effort of the team looking for people proactively. PTG also works with some influencer agencies, host live events, and participates in in-person events like travel conferences.
🤝 In-person is always favoured for meeting people.
Through a combination of channels. With Kimberly, large destinations often reach out to her. But she does often reach out to local tourism boards on her own, especially if she is already traveling to the destination, which has proved to have a positive outcome. Cold pitches to PR firms are useful to get on the radar for different companies. Kimberly would share a bit about who she is coupled with some analytics which often results in event invitations allowing her to build more personal connections.
Influencer platforms, like Klear and #Paid, are in rotation, however, those are less successful than working directly with the tourism boards. Email is the preferred outreach method, to facilitate professional relationships. She might use Instagram to inquire about the correct contact but finds emails works best.
🎯 The outreach emails are tailored to each potential client, specific to the brand. While this does take a lot of time and effort but the tailored emails are more likely to result in a response and thereafter a collaboration.
There is no hard line and paid is always preferred for creators especially. Kimberly noted that a free trip is still a work trip because there is a set itinerary, a shot list and a content list that the creator needs to gather during the visit.
✅ Deliverables also play a large role. A long-form YouTube video, for example, takes an extensive amount of time to create. Short form video, combined with a blog post, social stories, and so on can add an additional 2 weeks of work to the actual trip. “You have to step back and consider your value and time as a creator,” Kimbery points out. Admittedly, new creators often have to take trade opportunities to build up portfolio and there are dream experiences you might not get to otherwise. But unpaid trips can be exploitative, lower industry standards, and you can be overused as an influencer. The considerations also include time and experience, amount of content, how soon the content needs to be live, and so on.
At the end of the day, if a collaboration comes with a list of deliverables it should be compensated. Creators are a one person job who work as a director, photographer, writer, marketer, and come in with their own gear as oppose to an entire production team.
Among other dealbreakers, Kimberly mentioned lack of clear contract and no conversation of usage rates. The opportunity naturally needs to align with her niche and fit within the schedule. For Kimberly, who is an adventure travel creator, ethical considerations are high on the list.
Historically, Stay22 saw highest bookings on websites with high traffic volume but recent Google updates have changed that. Now the performance of the creator, regardless of their traffic has an impact on their earnings. They look at how many sessions it take to complete a booking and what they noticed is that creators who earn are:
🧐 Looking at data, Felix noticed for creators who have 2-3 of the above have seen an increase in bookings regardless of the drop in traffic. Most of the bookings come from websites, but they have seen some resourceful creators who leverage social media, downloads, and YouTube.
Kimberly has found success with hotel bookings, which she very carefully selects for her written articles, packing lists, and best-of lists – all of which are articles moulded to support affiliate links. She’s always been using affiliate links in her Instagram stories and has a landing page with her trusted affiliate list in her profile.
The expectations are different for creators and traditionally earned media:
🤳 Similarly, Kimberly shares “live” stories a week or two after due to privacy and security but also to make sure there is access to WiFi. Longer form content can take two to four weeks, taking the audience on the journey with her overtime from social to web.
For Ashley, each press trip opportunity is a partnership and they hope to go into each experience with a clear understanding of needs and expectations for both parties. The goal is to align on expectations and be able to facilitate specific content needs.
🥾 Being prepared for the activities is important, the hosts typically set expectations for physical ability needs, weather and so on but as a creator, you can opt out if something is not for you.
Kimberly’s list aligns with Ashley’s with a few additions. For influencers, be on-time in the morning, don’t request last minute changes, do research the country and the brand. For the brand side, the schedules can be too packed leaving creators little time to rest or produce content. An example she shared is a trip on which the brand gave the group four hours of free time during which the influencers worked together to create content collaboratively.
Félix shared that Stay22 is available to creators of all sizes and are actively learning from them to be a valuable partner. They provide in-person support and have been working with creators on developing features they value including real-time dashboards with in-depth analytics and AI-powered smart links which can monetize autonomously across hotel and activity content.
🧪 Stay22 are currently testing a YouTube feature and other social features are in the works.
Already a Stay22 partner? Join the Stay22 referral program, or the early access program for YouTube.
🤩 Stay22 allows you to turn your travel content into revenue effortlessly with Let Me Allez which not only automatically replaces broken links but auto-inserts all new web links saving literal hours for creators. In 2024 alone, Let Me Allez powered over $500M in bookings for content creators. Sign up on stay22.com.
Thanks to everyone in the audience for your questions!
Here’s some follow-up answers from Ashley Norman (PTG Consulting).
Evelien (Travel blogger): Do you work together with influencers specialised in family travel? And should this be an English speaking account?
Ashley (PTG Consulting): We do work with family travel influencers, when the client’s budget and desired target audiences align. Typically, these partnerships have been in partnership with all-inclusive resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean, as this helps us efficiently manage costs when hosting multiple members of a family. We have executed very successful YouTube and IG-centric campaigns with family travel influencers.
Language all depends on the scope of the project and focus markets…all of the US, Canadian and European influencers we have worked with to-date have created English content. However, if a client was launching a new flight from Montreal (for example) I could see us potentially targeting influencers who publish content in French. We regularly work with Latin American influencers who publish in Spanish and Portuguese to reach audiences in their countries of origin.
Janice (Content Creator): Targeting demographics - how important do you see the over 50/senior/retirement travel market?
Ashley (PTG Consulting): Every age demographic plays different, but equally important roles in supporting visitation to our destinations. We strategically develop storylines that tend to appeal to travelers based upon their age. For example, we know that, on average, 50+ travelers have the capacity to stay longer, spend more, and often they are bringing along children or grandchildren. So we will find the best stories that support this type of travel, and pitch them to the legacy media outlets (print and digital) like Travel + Leisure, AFAR, The New York Times, Globe & Mail, etc; regional luxury lifestyle magazines; and demographic-specific titles like AARP and Zoomer. We have done one successful influencer campaign for a Chinese destination, and we’d be open to working with other older creators if the audience reach and engagement was strong.
Kerwin (Author): Why wouldn’t a blog or Facebook group not be appealing to brands? I mean, it’s a targeted audience. I have a lot of seniors in my Facebook group and newsletter.
Ashley (PTG Consulting): Many destinations PTG Consulting works with are highly focused on gaining exposure in well-known/prestigious media outlets with wide appeal, and/or working with highly-engaging influencers. For clients we have worked with in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa, this type of “name brand” exposure resonates most with the political leaders and stakeholders they answer to, and demonstrates that the tourism board’s efforts are generating impressive results. They are in a position where they are justifying every dollar invested in airfare, activities, etc., so there is a bit of a political element to these decisions.
In my experience, DMOs in the US and Canada - in particular - are more open to partnerships involving media like blogs and Facebook groups to support drive market/ domestic tourism strategies and special interest targeting.
Cruise lines and theme parks are other great sectors for these types of partnerships given the massive online communities built to serve enthusiasts.
Diana (Content Creator): I’ll be speaking at a travel conference in Kansas this October about Intellectual Property for travel content creators. Have you ever faced copyright or trademark issues in your work? I’d love to hear your experiences and what topics you’d be most interested in learning more about.
Ashley (PTG Consulting): We work with a dedicated contracts team to ensure that any aspect of influencer partnerships is extremely clear in terms of content ownership and usage rights. We often put $ behind Meta ad campaigns to support our influencer partnerships, so it’s super important for everyone to be on the same page regarding usage rights. We have faced a few issues in the past when our clients re-share or post content from an influencer partnership or sponsored event, and the content is in conflict with the partnership guidelines — for example, posting about an event or piece of media coverage too soon or using incorrect tags. We have adjusted by over-communicating the guidelines to clients and the teams managing their owned accounts — sending one email just isn’t enough!
In terms of the conference, I think it would be interesting to learn what are the biggest IP/copyright challenges influencers are currently facing and what can we do to be better partners. I’d also love to know how many influencers are open to capturing / producing assets that don’t include their likeness and selling those with unlimited usage rights in perpetuity, while they are on assignment for a traditional influencer campaign.
Dilip (Adventure Travel Operator) What kind of partnerships do you see working best when one party is based in Europe and the other in Asia?
Ashley (PTG Consulting): When it comes to Asian DMOs, it’s usually easiest to facilitate partnerships through their agency representative based in your market. More often than not, this allows for much smoother facilitation of deliverable discussions, contracting, and trip planning, without language barriers. In terms of the type of partnership, it all depends on the specific market, their strategies, and their level of sophistication in understanding your focus channels. For example, one of our biggest challenges working in China where they primarily use completely different, Chinese owned social channels, is when IG changes how it values measurement metrics. It took considerable lobbying over several years to get our tourism board clients to shift their Meta strategy from followers to impressions, and now engagement. With this in mind, I recommend having very clear conversations with any potential partners to understand what success looks like to them, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Andrew (Content Creator) What makes you open a cold email and want to get on a call with them?
Ashley (PTG Consulting): It’s best when influencers reach out and mention a specific reason they are interested in having a conversation with us (they know we have worked with one of their friends/colleagues, they saw a project we featured on our owned channels, etc), or a specific client they are interested in. Bonus points for including a link to your media/sales kit!
– Thanks to Ashley Norman, Kimberly Davies, Félix Contant and Kateryna Topol (moderator) for sharing their expertise and insights!
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