These notes summarise a free starter guide written by a travel creator who moved from New Zealand to Dubai. Her claim: around $250,000 of hotel stays and experiences in one year, plus separate paid income from hotels, with much of the content never posted on her own page. The idea is simple. Hotels need content more than ever, and most creators pitch them badly.
Hotels are not looking for pretty travel pictures. They are looking for five things.
| They want | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Content that converts | Shots that make a viewer imagine staying there. Sell the feeling of the stay. |
| Content they can repost | Real, warm, story-led clips. These convert better than a staged shoot. |
| Many angles of one stay | Rooms, pool, restaurant, spa, the vibe, the story. Cover all of it. |
| A creator who gets branding | Tone, look and editing beat follower count. This is why 1K to 10K accounts get in. |
| Quality over posting | Many hotels now pay for UGC they use themselves. You do not need a big personal brand. |
Curtains opening, the balcony view, soft lighting, textures. Hotels always need fresh room content for their feeds.
Food is the most shareable part of any trip. Overhead table shots, coffee steam, the table setup, a POV first bite.
One of the best-performing categories worldwide. Floating breakfast, lounger POV, an underwater frame.
Clean, smooth movement that shows scale and luxury. Use slow motion and a stabilised pan, or quick cuts for reels.
Sunset, a silhouette, a glass of something, reflections on water.
Linen, cocktails, the key card, the bathroom vanity, architectural lines. These fill gaps in a hotel's content calendar.
Say your style. Your look and the type of content you specialise in.
Make it easy for them. Spell out what you will deliver and how it helps the hotel. Talk about yourself less.
Speak hospitality. Use words like guest experience, property storytelling, signature amenities and brand identity.
Be a partner, not a fan. Most people pitch "I want this". Flip it to "I can do this for you", and carry yourself like someone who does stays often.
Short is the point. The first message only needs to get you the right email address.
| Script | Use it when | The message |
|---|---|---|
| Clean and professional | You have dates in mind | "Hi! I love [hotel] and I'm visiting soon. I'd like to create content that shows off your rooms, amenities and guest experience. What's the best email for a collaboration?" |
| Value first | You have a strong portfolio | "Hi! I create luxury travel content and would love to produce photo and video assets for your hotel. If you work with creators, I can send over deliverables." |
| Small but high quality | Your following is small | "Hi! My audience is small but very engaged, and I specialise in polished hotel content. Do you work with micro-creators?" |
| UGC only | You don't want to post it yourself | "Hi! I make scroll-stopping photo and video the property can use across social and marketing. Could you share the best marketing email?" |
| Local staycation | The hotel is in your city | "Hi! I'm based locally and would love to shoot your property. Are you open to staycation collabs with creators?" |
Big luxury chains mostly work with large, established creators. Start where a yes comes easier.
| Tier | Why | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Boutique | Easiest yes | Eco lodges · wellness retreats · family-run boutique stays · farm and countryside villas · newly opened properties |
| Mid-range | Need content all the time | Renovated hotels · chains with active social teams · beach or city hotels trying to grow reach |
| Luxury | Micro-creators do get in | Boutique luxury hotels without big marketing budgets · new five-star openings that need buzz |
Profile → menu (top right) → Settings and privacy → Account type → Switch to professional account → Creator. Pick the category that fits, link a Facebook Page or skip, and add at least one contact method. Hide the category and contact buttons on your profile to save bio space. You then get the professional dashboard, insights and monetisation tools.
| Line | What goes there |
|---|---|
| Name field | Keywords for your niche, not only your name |
| Line 1 | The problem you solve |
| Line 2 | Goals and wins |
| Line 3 | Search keywords your audience would type |
| Line 4 | A clear call to action, plus your link in bio |
Update the bio as you grow. It is the first thing most people read.
Use a clear, well-lit picture that reads at a tiny size and matches your highlight covers. Free design tools have ready templates for logos and highlight covers. Set up highlights for: Travel locations (places you stayed and why), Social proof (client wins, results), Q&A (ask yourself common questions in a question box and answer them) and Info (what you offer). A story must be posted before it can go into a highlight.
Trending audio. Pick sounds with under 10,000 uses and the upward arrow. In the Reels tab, tap the sound name to see how many times it has been used.
4 to 7 seconds. Watch time matters. A short loop with a long caption keeps people on the post.
Hook in frame one. A visual hook plus a keyword on screen at the start.
3 to 5 hashtags that fit the post.
Add value. Don't sell in every post. Take people on the trip with you. Emotion is what connects.
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Eye-catching hook | It decides whether people watch the whole reel |
| Strong caption opener | The first line is all people see before they tap "more" |
| Call to action | Tell viewers the next step: follow, visit, sign up |
| Relevant hashtags | They sort your post into searches and niche communities |
Ignoring highlights. They work while you sleep. When stories expire, highlights are what new visitors read.
Saying it one way only. People take in the same idea differently. Test "3 mistakes, read the caption" against listing the three in the video itself.
Underestimating stories. Small accounts still get story views. Stories are more personal and let you break a long caption into slides.
| Week | Do this |
|---|---|
| 1 | Switch to a Creator account, rewrite the bio in four lines, build four highlights |
| 2 | Shoot all six hotel shots at one local hotel or café, even on a paid visit, and post three short reels |
| 3 | List 20 boutique and newly opened properties. Send the clean or local DM to 10 |
| 4 | Follow up once, send the other 10, and keep a simple tracker of who replied |
Yes. Hotels need fresh content all the time, and 1K to 10K accounts do land collabs. Quality, tone and editing count more than numbers.
Room reveal, food moment, pool or water, walk-through, golden hour and close-up details.
Boutique stays and new openings, then mid-range hotels with active social teams, then boutique luxury. Leave the big chains for later.
What you create, how it helps them, and a request for the right email. Two or three lines.
4 to 7 seconds, hook in the first frame, trending audio under 10K uses, 3 to 5 hashtags.
Photo and video you make for the hotel's own channels and ads. It doesn't have to go on your page.