If you are a content creator in the travel and hotel space, you already know this is a struggle. Even before the pandemic finding a hotel to pay you upfront for content creation was nearly impossible. Hotel’s will offer a complimentary night stay along with an F&B experience if they have a restaurant onsite. Outside of this, you won’t get a lot more.
Kat, the Founder of HBK worked in the hotel industry for ten years and now helps travel bloggers monetize their networks and content. Below are her insights as to why hotels will not pay you upfront:
- Ownership groups! Hotel brands like Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt etc. do not own actual real estate 99% of the time, they manage the hotel with all operations and sales.
- What does this mean? It means that ownership groups play a huge role in sales and marketing budgets that the property puts together on an annual basis. From there, the sales team works within their given budget and must show their ownership group results.
- Results meaning how has the marketing spend produced revenue and room nights for the hotel.
- Tracking is KEY for hotel salespeople!
We know content creators drive awareness, social engagement, and clicks to the hotel website. However, the results (at times) are not specific enough which is why a budget is not carved out for upfront payments.
So, with this said, how can content creators grow their bottom line in the hotel and travel space? We are outlining suggestions below:
- Align yourself with a travel agency...like HBK! 😊
- When you are under a travel agency you gain access to the entire hotel industry, training and can build credibility in your media kits.
- Hotel booking engines, digital products and suppliers will be available at your fingertips which will allow you to earn commissions! This way, you have a revenue stream for the hotel content you create.
Are you interested to learn more? Contact Kat Friedman today for a free 30-minute consultation!