Partnerships That Pay: Photos and Takeaways from Our Toronto Creator and Destination Marketing Panel with Stay22

Transitioning to paid partnerships can be one of the hardest moves a travel creator can make, so this October Travel Massive and Stay22 assembled a panel of experts at Le Germain Hotel Toronto Mercer to discuss the business of travel content with the Toronto Travel Massive community.

The conversation ranged from how to prepare your brand for revenue-generating partnerships, to where to find them when you’re ready, and how to make the most of these opportunities when you get them.

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A Full House for the Business of Travel Content

Moderating the panel was photographer, writer, and Toronto Travel Massive chapter lead Kateryna Topol, joined by panellists Tania Kabanyana of Stay22, providing the affiliate platform perspective; Erin Hynes of Pina Travels, representing creators; and Ashley Rochefort of Destination Toronto, offering insight from the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) side.

The event was attended by people from across the travel spectrum, including Maria Stoyanova, Content & Partnerships Manager for Stay22; travel business entrepreneurs representing Triprecos, Wondering Concierge, and Fringinto Media; and bloggers from Goat Roti Chronicles, Liisa Wanders, She Roams About, Life On The Roam, and Traveling Mitch.

Rounding out the room were journalists from the Toronto Star, Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, The Globe and Mail, DreamScapes, TABLET Magazine, Travel Life, Explore Magazine, Landsby Northern Soul, Fodor’s Travel, TIME, Yahoo Canada, PAX News, Paths to Travel Magazine, BOLD Traveller, Air India‘s in-flight magazine, Travelweek, Matador Network, HerSide Magazine, NUVO Magazine, Wander Niagara, and Azure Road; representatives from DMOs, brands and public relations organizations including Destination Ontario, Hustle House PR & Media, and Chimu Adventures; and content creators including Mike Rizzi, Ildiko Siklodi, Cat Mansouri, Maiku Wong, Lotoya Jackson, and Garbo Kwan.

Five Ways Travel Creators Can Land Better Partnerships and Earn More

Our panel discussion covered a range of topics, with the big themes being the value of a distinct voice, deep destination expertise, clear and upfront pitching, diverse revenue streams, and a firm grip on your numbers. Here are the top five takeaways:

1. Define Your Voice and Identity

Creator Erin has spent a decade building a trusted voice in travel, and she only takes opportunities that align with her values.

It’s important to go to places you genuinely want to go to. — Erin Hynes, Pina Travels

That commitment has led her to turn down partnerships that clash with her responsible travel ethos, something her audience has come to know her for.

Stay22’s Tania agreed that a strong voice helps people feel they can really connect with who you are. It matters to DMOs too: Ashley from Destination Toronto receives countless emails from creators every day, and a generic pitch is one of her top dealbreakers.

2. Be an Authority

Tania and Erin both stressed being an authority on the destinations you cover. Stay22’s top-performing bloggers create content clusters that build topical authority, and Erin always writes multiple posts per destination so her audience can learn everything they need to take the same trip she did.

In Tania’s experience, the best performers balance aspirational content with practical advice, and the most lucrative content answers all the decision-making questions: where to stay, how to do things, and what is best for certain travellers, such as families.

Well-rounded coverage makes you a one-stop shop for travellers planning their trip and shows potential partners you know your topic.

3. Communicate Clearly and Efficiently

For Ashley, pitches to busy DMOs and businesses should be direct and brief. A niche idea will catch her attention, and information about your audience, performance metrics, and pay expectations should be right up front.

Erin includes her rate card in her first pitch to avoid wasting anyone’s time. At this stage in her career she doesn’t do unpaid work: it helps build a portfolio in the beginning, but it’s not a long-term business strategy.

Tania applied the same thinking to affiliate marketing: make links as visible as possible. Stay22 finds that inline links convert twice as well as any of the other tools they offer to creators. Since most people view content on their phones, colours, buttons, and other eye-catching elements help stop the scroll and encourage clicks.

4. Diversify Your Revenue Streams

Many creators believe partnerships are the only way to make money, but Erin sees them as just one piece of the puzzle. Her top two revenue streams are affiliate marketing and sponsorships, but she also earns from display ads on her blog, ads in her podcast, and content licensing, which she thinks is often overlooked.

After a trip, she shares a folder of photos with relevant brands and DMOs to browse and license. DMOs often come back to her later for more images, making it a clever way to get paid for work you’ve already done.

Stay22 adds earning potential to blogs and websites with smart tools bundled into one easy-to-install script. Spark uses context to automatically place relevant affiliate links in existing content, and Nova reads user behaviour to quietly open a new tab with the recommendations the reader is most likely to book. Tania shared that the tools were recently revamped to make them even more effective, and self-serve controls should roll out in the coming months.

5. Know Your Numbers

All three panellists agreed on the importance of knowing your numbers. Destination Toronto looks most closely at social media reach and engagement when considering partners, and Ashley warned against inflating numbers, as there are tools available to check influencer performance.

Tania suggested that creators who are comfortable with it use an AI tool to identify trends and anomalies, which could surface opportunities that traditional analysis misses.

Erin relies on built-in, native analytics, regularly pulling reports from affiliate platforms and Google Analytics, and refreshes her media kit and rate card annually. Her rates are flexible, but she sets expectations early, offering à la carte deliverable pricing plus strategically priced bundles that give partners better value and encourage them to increase the scope of their partnership.

Erin and Ashley both said most of their partnerships come from in-person conferences, marketplaces, networking events, and cold pitching, and knowing your numbers is crucial to finding the right partners.

Preparing to be a good partner is half the battle, and it lays the groundwork for earning more through successful partnerships that could turn into repeat collaborations.

Thank You To Everyone Who Participated

A big thank you to our panellists Tania, Erin and Ashley for sharing their expertise, to Kateryna for moderating, to everyone who came along and filled the room, to our Toronto Travel Massive co-leaders, and to Stay22 for supporting the event and making it possible.

Want to be at the next one? Join Toronto Travel Massive to stay updated on upcoming events, creator and brand opportunities, and more.

Stay22 gives creators and publishers a smarter way to monetize travel content across blogs and websites. It offers quick setup, clear performance tracking, and a way to start earning without rebuilding the content you already have. Learn more at stay22.com. Or connect with Tania Kabanyana to discuss creator partnerships.