22 Tips for Attending a Travel Show as a Content Creator

PRACTICAL TIPS & ADVICE FOR YOUR VISIT

Travel shows can be daunting at first, especially if you’re a newbie.

Filled with tourism boards from all over the globe, with professionals who’ve been in the business for years, these events, and the networking which they entail, can be intimidating.

So we’ve put together a few handy tips that we wish we’d known before we attended a travel show for the first time in the hopes that it can help others out there. Whether you’re a photographer, blogger, Youtuber, influencer, or all-around content creator, these tips can help you for the next event.

KNOW YOUR STUFF

Make sure you’re well informed with the facts. What are your demographics? Who is your audience? Where are they from? What are they interested in? This is all vital information that you’ll get asked repeatedly so make sure you know it off by heart.

Keep your media kit to hand. This is a good way of explaining your demographics and not having to remember all of the details off the top of your head. You also want to include your media kit when you follow up afterward via email.

2. BE PREPARED WITH YOUR PITCH

Practice giving your pitch in under 2 minutes. Who are you? What do you do? What can you offer them? What is your niche?

Practice makes perfect and you’ll sound more confident. You want to avoid rambling or stringing out what you’re trying to get across. These events can be long and tiring so you want to bring out the key points.

3. WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT

The person you’re talking to is likely speaking to loads of content creators like yourself that day. You want to show them what makes you unique to everyone else. What is your USP (unique selling point)? You want to make sure that your meeting together is memorable to them.

4. BUSINESS CARDS

It’s really important to have business cards. Whether it’s to hand out during scheduled meetings or when you meet someone in the food queue and get chatting. Make your business cards creative and memorable. If you’re a content creator, you’re in a creative industry so make sure your card reflects that. You also want to make sure your business cards correlate with your website and socials. Using the same branding, colours, and fonts.

So many business cards are boring and corporate-looking, so make yours memorable. Include your logo if you have one, your name, your handles, and above all, a way of contacting you.

5. TAKE NOTES

Don’t forget to take notes during your meetings. If you have multiple throughout the day, by the time you come to follow up via email you might have forgotten what you spoke about and what information you said you’d send them.

Some people work for PR companies that represent multiple brands or locations. So if they give you their business card it might not be clear what country you had the meeting about. You can use their business card to write down vital info during the meeting.

6. SHOES

A huge tip that seems to be the most talked about and the most necessary. These events can be held in huge convention centers and getting from one meeting to another can require a lot of walking. Some stands can be a 10-20 minute walk from each other so it’s essential you wear comfortable footwear.

7. BOOK MEETINGS GEOGRAPHICALLY

While on the topic of lots of walking - when booking your meetings you want to be strategic. Don’t book a meeting with a country in Asia straight after a meeting with a county in Europe, because they’ll likely be far from each other. This will require more walking and more rushing.

Have a plan. Book in meetings back to back with countries or brands that will likely be in the same area as each other if possible. Most events will provide you with a map before you start booking so you can organize yourself beforehand. If you haven’t got a map, you’ll have a rough idea that continents stick together.

8. EXAMPLES OF WORK

Some people will have taken the time to look through your work and be familiar with what you create, but others won’t have. Be prepared for this and bring with you examples of your work. Show them what you can do rather than just telling them. Whether it’s a small collection of images, an example of work you’ve created for another brand that has a similar aesthetic, or a short video you've made, you want to show off your talents. Also visual content is always more memorable than words. Blow them away with what you can do and they’ll remember you.

9. BOOK IN ADVANCE

Book your meetings in advance if possible. Certain tourism boards and brands can get fully booked fast so if you have specific people you want to see then book them in as soon as you can.

10. HAVE A BREAK

Something we always forget is to book time off to have a break - eat lunch and take a breather. Some events will have allotted time slots for lunch but others don’t. You don’t want to burn out and not be at your best when speaking to potential clients so make sure you give yourself enough time to rest and pace yourself.

11. BRING SNACKS AND WATER

Even if you book time off to have lunch and take a break the day can be tiring. Some events have 15-minute meetings back to back, and others have 30-minute meetings. If they’re 15-minute meetings (or “speed-networking” as it can be called) then it’s a pretty busy and full-on day. Don’t rely on buying food and drink at the venues as they can have long queues. Be prepared and bring your own snacks and drinks just in case.

12. RESEARCH

Before the event make sure you do research about the brand or tourism board you’re meeting with. Why do you want to work with them? Let them know. Tourism boards might have specific themes they’re focusing on for next year so you can adapt your pitch if you think you’d be a good match.

They want you to sound enthusiastic and eager to work with them. Many of the people you’re talking to live and come from the country that they work for so they’re passionate about their home country, and so should you.

13. HAVE A PURPOSE

When you sit down for the meeting make sure you have a purpose because sometimes the person you’re meeting doesn’t. Sometimes they’ll have a whole pitch in mind, they know who you are, and they know what they want to do. But others don’t and when you sit down they can simply say “So what do you want?” or “How can I help”. Don’t be put off by this, tell them what you offer, why you wanted to meet them, and bring the purpose of the meeting yourself.

14. ASK FOR PR

Some events are specifically organized for travel content creators, but many are for the travel industry as a whole. When booking meetings make sure you’re contacting the correct person. Or if you haven't got meetings and you’re walking up to a stand, ask for the correct member of staff. You don't want to waste your time and theirs by pitching to a sales team member when the PR team member is nearby.

15. SEMINARS

Most events will be holding seminars. When booking in meetings make sure you check the schedule for these. You don’t want to miss out on one you wanted to attend by booking a meeting at the same time.

16. CATCH UP WITH CONNECTIONS

Don’t just use the event to make new contacts. It’s just as important to re-connect with previous contacts. It’s always good to see a familiar face and they may likely want to work with you again rather than a one-off collaboration.

17: STAY NEARBY

The days can be long and tiring. It makes a big difference if you’re staying in nearby accommodation so you can get some rest and a reasonable amount of sleep to prepare for the next day. A lot of these events are held in cities and thousands of people are attending. So hotel prices can go up dramatically and they book up quickly. Do your research and plan ahead.

18. DON’T FEEL DISCOURAGED

Don’t feel discouraged if you’re not fully booked with meetings like others around you. Opportunities can still arise from spontaneously approaching people, booking in meetings on the day, or simply by meeting elsewhere. If they don’t have the time to speak to you on the day, exchange contact details and email later.

19. FOLLOW UP

On the subject of emails - It’s SO important that you follow up on your meetings. During and after the event it’s a super busy period of time so don’t wait for them to contact you. We’d suggest waiting a few days or a week before you follow up by email. You don’t want your email to get buried in amongst everyone else’s. Remind them of who you are, what you discussed and any additional information you said you’d send over when you met.

20. NETWORKING

Keep an eye out for social events happening in the evenings. If you receive multiple invitations be strategic with which ones you’ll attend. Think about who will be there and prepare to meet them.

21. VIRTUAL?

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many events are being held virtually rather than in person. Make sure that your WIFI is stable, you fully understand the online system, and that you have a professional-looking background.

22. ORGANISE DATES

Finally, keep a list of the events that you want to attend. Take note of the dates they’re happening but also the dates you can start applying to attend and the cut-off period. This way you won’t miss out on going.