Learning how to write a travel itinerary that really stands out is something to put on your learning skills as when talking about organizing travel trips and packages, this will be the one skill that upgrades your sales. And what I want to do here is to pinpoint just some of the tips, tricks, and templates that will prove helpful in showing you just how to write that particular travel itinerary that sells.
But first let me ask you something: what is it about a certain travel destination or itinerary that gets to you? What makes it special and sets it apart from all others? Why is one better than another? I am certain that you have also wondered about it. You will find for sure that although 2 itineraries may share the same destination, one will get your attention and interest, while another might not do so well. Why is that you think?
The truth is that there are a few tips and tricks that you can apply and follow when designing a travel itinerary template. So let me share with you what I’ve learned so far. First of all, creating a travel itinerary that sells will get easier with experience and you will get more and more skillful at creating those effective ones. So don’t lose hope and interest! Practice makes perfection!
But let’s get started and check what I have on my list of tips and tricks that help to create the travel itinerary that sells.
Choosing the Right Destination
Create a travel itinerary connecting the right crowd to the right spots!
Choosing the right destination seems vital, doesn’t it? There are so many beautiful, captivating or interesting things to see and places to visit in the world! When writing a travel itinerary you need to focus on finding and choosing the landmarks worth visiting that will make your itinerary appealing and will get your sales up.
Seems like, without having the right destination in mind, the landmarks, and popular spots you cannot really hack it. But I don’t say here that you only have to choose only the popular spots, but you have to really know the locations you are including in your travel itinerary and furthermore, there has to be something about those particular places that will attract the right crowd for you. Think about what your targeted audience would like to see and prepare accordingly.
But first things first: always start by getting familiarised, as best as possible, with the sites from your travel itinerary. You can be as big of a geek as you want about it as it will reflect both your knowledge and passion. The best next advice I can offer you is to write it like you are talking with a specific person in mind. You can be either friendly or corporate-formal in your text; it makes no difference as it all depends on the type of the itinerary. But the one thing you have to be careful about is to be consistent when addressing people and the right ones will love it.
Create the Perfect Itinerary Length
After deciding upon the best possible destination and landmarks to hit on the itinerary, you need to decide a travel itinerary template that fits it perfectly and then you can focus on the length of it. It is very important to get the how long should be the itinerary question right, as well. You don’t want to be pressed for time and just run from one location to another. But you don’t want to have too much ”dead-time” either. This means that you have to design the travel itinerary in such a way that it fills perfectly the time frame at your disposal.
How to do this? Easy!
Start by deciding if the destination is more of a one-day type of itinerary or a multiple day one. Then you need to break it down, into smaller timeframes. This way you can specify what it contains daily or hourly, the places included, the activities, means of transportation etc. Each day’s schedule should feel very clear and it should also contain what is included in the itinerary and what it isn’t. There might be the case for entry fees that are not covered or even cases when a local guide needs to be hired and it not in the program. Make it your point to be extra clear on the subject and this way you can avoid people feeling unaware of any extras.
One more thing, our lovely travel itinerary should always be more of a story delighting and letting people why to choose and visit those specific places, so make the storyline easy to follow, natural and plan the routes logically as nobody likes to run in circles.
Use Captivating Itinerary Photos and Videos
What is the best way to make the travel itinerary stand out? What else helps in turning a random itinerary into a travel itinerary that sells really well? Great looking pictures and videos! It is true what they say: that a picture is worth a thousand words so don’t be shy and find the ones that really capture your story and depict it in the most flattering way possible!
How many times did you stop scrolling the social media pages and just enjoyed magnificent-looking scenery? And how many times did a photo make you wanna go somewhere or decide that that is your next holiday destination? So, you know what I mean when I say that choosing the right media is something you should really focus on.
My advice is to add the best-looking photos that capture the soul of the experience but as always you also want to be realistic and present it like it is. Don’t oversell it either. You want your clients to recognize the places from the itinerary and not feel cheated by overly photo-edited imagery!
Project Professionalism
Can you take one more tip? When I say project, I mean to act and be professional in all your endeavours. You really must be clear about everything that can be found in the itinerary, about means of transportation, schedule, hours, accommodation, etc.
What else? You can help them by being very clear in pointing out the benefits of this particular travel itinerary, what sets it apart from the others. Maybe you are including here a location that is not found in others, or choose to visit a museum at a less crowded hour. Do communicate the benefits but try to make it more like a story that stating facts.
And furthermore, wherever and whenever possible provide links. Some of us really like to check ahead and this shows that you are totally unambiguous and explicit, with nothing to hide.
It might be a bit difficult to do that if you are planning an itinerary in a remote location in India, but even in that case, you can let people know about the approximate hours and details regarding the stops and so on.
Of course, it will be different from a travel itinerary example to another, but I am sure you get my point.
Flaunt Your Knowledge and Recommend Away!
This particular point on my tips and tricks to follow when you learn how to write a travel itinerary that sells relates to your knowledge of local places and the ability to sell it. When writing the itinerary, please don’t just say first night at Hotel X, dinner at restaurant Y!
This is so not personal!
Be creative and describe the location in a manner that helps them image it (even before checking the links provided) and shows you know your business. Maybe it will sound something like this: First night rest will be at this cosy, downtown hotel, 2 minutes away from the local restaurant…that serves the best traditional dish in town. Use your imagination and words but also be realistic in your description. Don’t oversell it or your clients will feel cheated or mislead.
SEO Optimize Your Travel Itinerary
SEO like a professional! I know you have already taken care of the content part of the travel itinerary, you know your locations, the landmarks, and all technical parts all covered. Everything is top-notch.
Now let’s talk a bit about what you can do about selling it better! For this aspect, it is important to write the travel itinerary with SEO in mind. These means finding out the keywords and phrases you would type in the search bar to get your itinerary. And do a bit of research. Just type in the search bar what are the best features for your itinerary and let Google help you see what others have been searching for.
Use the keywords and especially the long key-phrases you’ve discovered throughout the whole itinerary, in a natural-sounding way, like you would talk to your favourite client, and don’t just add words willy-nilly for the sake of having them placed. Use them right and they will definitely help you get higher rankings in search engines, better known and of course more customers.
Incorporate the video and photo part of the description, as I’ve previously mentioned. And now you are almost done! The last part is to make sure you proofread the travel itinerary. You want to be professional about this aspect as well.
The Travel Itinerary Template That Sells
Now that we have dealt with the SEO part of writing, the content and the presentation, our travel itinerary example is all covered. So let’s check a bit the format, the template for a travel itinerary. What format would work best?
The best travel itineraries templates follow a certain line meaning they cover all the information the client needs from start to end. It will differ from one travel itinerary example to another, depending on the style of the itinerary, who’s aimed at as potential clients but it will always include:
- Small introduction: here it’s best to cover the destination as a whole, a bit of history of the area or a story to introduce in the atmosphere. Start your story right and capture your audience. Use the right keywords and sell that beautiful destination.
- Brief overview: point out the main attractions that are going to be included in the travel itinerary. You don’t have to get into a lot of details, but pointing them out will surely help them imagine how it will be.
- Daily schedule: break down each day into points of attractions, other activities, what else is there to see, etc. This part will be the one that points out your major attractions and how it’s going to unravel. Here you can be specific but do remember the same rules apply: insert an attractive description, beautiful pictures and use those right keywords. When you are done you should feel like you want to go there!
- Other information: don’t forget to share and overshare even links for transport, restaurants you recommend, any other venues worth the time. And what else? Whatever you have discovered worth mentioning and visiting from best coffee places in the area to the most exclusive or elusive night spots. You are the expert and your knowledge is valuable and will set you apart from all your competitors!
Final Word On How To Write a Travel Itinerary
Writing a travel itinerary that sells might be a skill you want and need to improve if you want to turn your visitors into clients. And let’s be fair, every skill gets better with practice. So you should just go ahead and use those tips and tricks and put them at work in creating that travel itinerary that sells. Be creative in your writing, tell that story that will captivate your audience and virtually teleport them straight into those landmarks. My advice is to just keep writing and your skills will get better and better! You will definitely master the how to write a travel itinerary that sells.
And I do hope that this article inspired you to get to writing! Do you know any other tricks that work? Don’t be shy and share with me what else you found helpful and effective when writing a travel itinerary and especially when writing a successful one, that sells! And, as always, if you found my article helpful a thumbs up or a share is greatly appreciated!
