WTF is the travel trade press?
Never pitched the trade press? You should, says Lottie. Here's why.
Did you miss last month’s webinar about the PR-journalist relationship? It’s a tricky one to navigate, which is why this latest webinar (watch it here for just £6) on how to work smarter with travel PRs is essential viewing for everyone in this business. There’s a panel of exceptional PR professionals alongside host Meera Dattani.
Now, to introduce this month’s series on B2B writing, here’s Lottie waxing lyrical about working for travel trade publications. It’s an op-ed from our archives that we’ve updated, but all the rest of the content this month will be 100% brand new. Sign up to receive the following newsletters:
14 May: What exactly does the travel media want from us — and how can we pitch them?
21 May: How you can make your copy a must-read for travel agents
28 May: Pitching guidelines and pay rates for the travel trade press
Why I love writing for B2B titles
I’ve just filed a 2,000-word hotel review. No, I didn’t go over the word count on my latest one for The Telegraph, it was actually commissioned at 2,000 words! How often does that happen? Rarely. And especially rarely for a hotel review.
This was actually the fourth 2,000-word feature I’ve filed in the last few months. In January, I profiled a brilliant young master distiller, and in February I interviewed the owner of a pop-up hotel. All of these features, all 6,000 words of them, were commissioned by one publication and they’ve just commissioned another 2,000 worder from me this week. I love working for The Caterer.
Now, lots of you probably have no clue what The Caterer is. I certainly didn’t until about four years ago when I started writing for the B2B titles. Since then, B2B clients have made up around 35% of my income each year. But I can hear a few of you at the back saying, WTF is B2B? Let me explain…
What is a B2B travel magazine?
B2B stands for business-to-business. In media, this means a magazine or website that publishes content about a particular aspect of business or an industry, aimed at those working in that industry. The Caterer, as you have now probably guessed, is a magazine all about hospitality for hospitality professionals. Now, it’s not strictly travel, but it includes many of the elements within travel — primarily, hotels and restaurants — which is how I got involved with them.
Sound boring? I don’t think it is. Especially when I get 2k-word assignments that require me to shoot up to Manchester on the train to stay at the city’s coolest new hotel and interview its owner. I certainly wasn’t complaining when I had to sip gin at 11am on a Monday at Henley Distillery in order to write about the UK’s youngest master distiller, and I’m not complaining about my next commission, a piece that explores the future of food in restaurants (hello insect protein and lab-grown meat).
I really love writing B2B stories — and not just because I get to do cool stuff, either (although let’s be honest, I definitely won the day when Travel Weekly sent me to drink all the wine in Porto). I love the B2B side of things because I feel like, rather than just writing about holidays or experiences, I’m providing content that helps people. OK — I’m not changing lives, but I am potentially changing livelihoods. It’s a bit like what we do with this newsletter: I’m helping other people in business do their business better by learning from other businesses I interview for my features. That feels good to me.
So, how do you get into B2B writing?
Well, my story isn’t going to help you much. I first started writing B2B content for Booking.com’s industry-facing blog, Click. The editor got in touch with me way back in 2016 after Googling “London travel writer”, and she asked if I’d be open to contributing. I was a bit non-plussed by the idea, but when she said they were paying €0.80 per word, I quickly perked up. They’d send me two assignments a month on various topics, some of which I’d never heard of, and I’d bring in an extra £1,200 as a result. When I got into the flow of writing for a business audience — hoteliers, general managers, hospitality professionals — I actually started to enjoy it. Plus, I learned a hell of a lot about the inner workings of our industry that helped me contextualise the things I was seeing on the road in my day job.
But thanks to that experience, I could then go forth and pitch my own ideas to other B2B titles, like TTG or Travel Weekly. And that, really, is how anyone can get involved in writing for B2B titles. Just like the papers and magazines on the shelves in WH Smith, the trade titles also have editors who want pitches. What’s more, many of these titles are weekly so there’s a higher chance of your pitch landing because there’s a demand for more content. And, when you end up on their roster of writers, you’ll often get approached by editors to go on press trips and write about them for their publications — all without any upfront work on your part.
But what kind of content do they want? And how do you pitch them? The same rules apply here as to other publications: read the magazines, understand their audience, pitch relevant stories. Or, you could become a paid supporter for £60 a year and over the next three weeks you’ll learn exactly what trade editors want from freelancers, how to ensure they commission you again and again, and an overview of pitch guidelines for different publications. You’ll also get access to interviews in our archives with three trade editors (The Caterer, ABTA and Travel Weekly) about how to pitch them.
Which titles are in the travel trade press?
Aspire (supplement to Travel Weekly)
Calls for pitches & jobs
Finally, the Telegraph is recruiting a content editor for their hotels desk. This is a London-based role.
Tweet of the week
Who to follow
The lovely Katie McGonogale has returned as head of features at Travel Weekly. Send her your brilliant ideas for trade articles after you’ve learned all about pitching Travel Weekly later this month.
Industry must-reads
Settle down with a cup of tea and maybe some sunshine (🙏) to read the winners from both the Inspire Global Media Awards and the TravMedia Awards last month. Steph’s particularly sad that she wasn’t in the country and therefore didn’t get the chance to bask in the light reflecting off Rylan’s teeth.
It’s also a great time to remind you that the Travel Media Awards 2024 (yes, these are different!) are open for entries until May 17. Learn more and submit your potentially award-winning articles here.
Thanks to Stuart McDonald who drew our attention to this piece about the dearth of in-depth technology reporting. It seems to echo how economic pressures in our own industry have left little room for nuanced, detailed writing on tourism and its impacts — including the complicated relationship between travel and climate change.
This is the first in our series on the travel trade press. Upgrade your membership to paid to get access to the three remaining newsletters this month.
Don’t forget, there’s a bank of uber-useful webinars on travelwritingwebinars.com/shop, including free webinars and others for just £6.
Extremely useful post (even the bit you said wasn't going to be helpful!). Thanks for putting the time into it. 🙏