Feeling inspired to start travel writing in 2024 but want to know how you can turn it into a business? Travel blogging isn’t dead no matter what people might be saying about the Google updates – my website has been thriving this year and is growing by the day! I’ve been travel blogging for 10 years and while I’ve diversified my income and would always advise every blogger to do so, I can share lots of ways you can make money from your travel blog.
One thing I need to stress, if you’re planning to start a travel blog, is how much work is involved. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started this website, but I love to write and as an ex-journalist, I loved being able to write in my own voice about topics I’m passionate about. But, when you start a travel blog, you don’t realise the amount of skills you need to develop in website development, administration, social media, graphic design and email marketing (plus loads more.) I’ll always encourage aspiring bloggers and believe there is space for everyone, but go into the industry with your eyes wide open if you plan to build a successful passive income business and make money from travel blogging.
11 Ways To Make Money From Travel Blogging in 2024
1. Join an ad network
One of the best ways to monetise your travel blog and gain a somewhat steady passive income from your travel content. There are lots of different ad networks, but the main one that most bloggers and website owners will focus on getting accepted to is Mediavine which requires 50,000 monthly sessions to qualify. You can also apply for the newer platform, Journey by Mediavine, which is aimed at those websites with 10,000 or more monthly sessions.
If you plan on creating a business or side hustle out of your blog, I really recommend having this goal in mind for your website. You should begin writing from the start with knowledge of search engine optimisation (SEO) and it will help you a LOT in the long run. One of the mistakes I made when first starting my travel blog was to write it in the form of an online diary and I had no knowledge of SEO, now 10 years on I’m still working on fixing these mistakes.
2. Sign up for a combined affiliate platform
Who doesn’t love a platform that makes life easier and more streamlined? Lots of these combined affiliate platforms are cropping up and they’re a great way to make money from travel blogging. A lot of affiliate platforms will have a minimum amount to reach before payments can be made from your earnings, which can be annoying if all the affiliate programmes you want to join are on different networks. However, some platforms are cropping up that bunch together a lot of really popular affiliate programmes.
TravelPayouts is one of my favourites and is currently driving a big chunk of my income because I’m connected with so many affiliates on that platform – I’ve actually stopped using some affiliates’ native platforms such as Booking.com and GetYourGuide as a result. TravelPayouts is a great platform for monetising your travel blog through affiliate links, widgets and special offers specific to the platform. You can also get paid for making referrals for other creators to use the platform, and they also pay well for content. >> Click here to join TravelPayouts
If you blog about travel, but also cover fashion, you could look at platforms such Stylink and LTK which feature hundreds of fashion and high street brands with the option to link directly to specific products and create mood boards.
3. Join the Amazon Influencer Programme
If you want to make money from travel blogging, Amazon is a great platform for absolutely everything! From luggage recommendations, to clothing and hiking boots, to travel essentials, skincare and books. You can join Amazon Associates but also the Amazon Influencer Programme, which gives you access to a range of tools to create shopping lists, publish imagery and video content designed to drive conversions. I’m also currently working on a paid partnership with Amazon to be paid a fixed fee for creating this specific content which they will then prioritise and promote which could lead to more sales. >> Click here to view my Amazon Storefront
4. Join a brand new AI creator’s platform
There’s a brand new platform for creators coming soon and I am super excited to try it out. Retrograde has been founded by the one and only Grace Beverley who is one of the OG influencers and while she’s mostly Instagram and Youtube, she is really focused on driving the influencer industry forwards and ensuring fair treatment of content creators. Retrograde is a platform that uses AI to replicate the influencer management experience by ensuring creators are not missing opportunities and that they are receiving fair payment for their work. You can sign up to the waitlist for when it goes live, and I have a special code which will help you jump the queue! >> Click here to join Retrograde (use code: RETRO-6B0J)
5. Join the GetYourGuide Community
The GetYourGuide Community has exploded on to the travel blogging scene over the last couple of years and if you’re a travel blogger who isn’t signed up, you should be. They are an affiliate platform for tours and activities all over the world and it’s a fantastic and user-friendly platform, plus they also have a creators community where you can access lots of materials designed to help you increase your earnings and make money from travel blogging. If, like me, you have moved your GetYourGuide affiliate earnings over to TravelPayouts for simplicity, it is still worth using the native platform as well. You can still earn money from referrals of other creators and gain sponsored experiences in exchange for social media content, and even get paid to create content for activities or destinations. >> Click here to sign up to GetYourGuide
6. Sign up for traditional affiliate programmes
Of course, there are a lot of other affiliate platforms which are considered the OG’s, such as Impact, AWIN and CJ – these are some that I still use in my content for programmes such as Skyscanner, World Nomads, Outbacker and many more. If you’re looking to make money from your travel blog, it’s worth signing up with lots of affiliate programmes, but I do recommend trying to ensure you have several on each platform to avoid missing out on payments if you don’t quite make the lower payment threshold.
7. Work with brands & tourism boards on sponsored content
This is one of my main income sources and I love working on brand partnerships to create content either for my blog, for social media or even for their platforms (user-generated content UGC). This is a great way for brands and tourism boards to raise awareness of a destination or product, but also to boost their own platforms. If you’re looking to build your profile within the travel blogger industry, it’s worth pulling together a media kit, pitching and starting to attend travel conferences and events so that you can start to network and gain face-time with the brands and PRs you hope to work with.
> READ: How to maximise travel blogging partnerships
> READ: How to pitch to brands and setting your blogging rates
8. Get paid to go on press trips / FAM trips
All the advice I gave in #7 rings true for this one, networking is vital if you want to start being invited on press trips and FAM trips. You need to be an active part of the travel blogging community, but it pays off when you start to get invited on trips. These can be a fantastic earner for travel bloggers, but not every press trip is paid. If you’re looking to make money from travel blogging, I recommend also working on growing at least one socials platform such as Instagram or Tik Tok as travel brands and tourism boards will always look for these as well as blogs. I’ve earned 4 figures for press trips, and I’ve gone on some simply because I was excited about the trip. These trips are also a great way to make connections in the industry and remember, PRs all talk so make sure you represent your business well while on them!
9. Create and sell digital products
Many influencers and content creators will use digital products to grow an email list and then use email marketing to drive income, others will create digital products which they charge for such as online courses, eBooks, resources, photography and videography editing presets, travel guides, even travel maps, the list is endless! If you’re interested in creating products to sell, it’s worth looking into sales funnels and getting a good understanding of how you will be promoting these products before you even start creating. Is it a product your audience needs/wants? Make sure you are creating a product that will sell, not just a product you want to create!
10. Join a blogger’s network
There are lots of bloggers networks that have cropped up and if you want to make money from your travel blog, this is a quick and easy way to earn small amounts. There are two blogger networks that instantly spring to mind which have lots of opportunities for paid guest posts, sponsored posts and backlinks:
>> Click to join Bloggers Required (This gives you a free month of Pro)
11. Join a social media network
And finally, don’t neglect social media when setting up a travel blog! While you may just love writing and hope to generate income from SEO and affiliate marketing, it’s always important to diversify. The recent Google updates have caused uproar with some bloggers losing income, others gaining, but one thing that is clear, those who rely on one stream of income are the ones who really suffered. If you are hoping to work with travel brands and tourism boards, you will likely find that they won’t work with you unless you can also provide social media on at least one platform (the same goes for press trips!) Cover all your bases and treat social media as another income stream, I actually make a lot of my income from Instagram partnerships and some of the platforms I use to find work include:
>> Click here to join The Social Cat
>> Click here to join The Influence Room (use code: stake-media-which-field)
>> Click here to join Collabstr
