Traveler Communication Through a Storytelling Lens: Pre-Trip Content and On-the-Ground Messaging That Informs, Inspires, and Creates Elevated Experiences

When someone “purchases” travel, what exactly have they bought? On the one hand, there are the services (the accommodation stays, transportation connections, etc.), and these are peppered with product purchases (like meals and souvenirs). But this purchase is also both a series of experiences as well as one overriding, ongoing experience.

Further complicating this is the fact that “buying into” tourism consists of two separate journeys: the customer journey and the traveler journey.

The customer journey is integrated into the sales and marketing process, and this process is fairly universal across all industries. Travel brands must know their potential travelers intimately and optimize public-facing communication so it captures their attention while appropriately representing what is on offer. This part of the journey includes all the communication and experiences (the “touch points”) someone goes through when interacting with a brand.

The ultimate goal of the customer journey is to make a sale. In the case of tourism, this means, for example, booking a trip with a tour company, buying plane or train tickets, or reserving accommodations.

However, it’s not enough to attract people and convince them to purchase these product and service offerings. Because, even though the initial transactional part of the journey is over, the traveler journey is just beginning. During the traveler journey, a person visits attractions, participates in activities, encounters information and a wide variety of stimuli, and interacts with different people. This requires an entirely different communication strategy — one that encourages travelers to be respectful, curious, and engaged.

Both of these journeys are significant for their own reasons: One attracts and prepares potential customers, convincing them to invest hard-earned time and money. The other is the manifestation of this purchase. The investment in a holiday and the emotional attachment to the overall and individual experiences have the potential to lead to deeper brand attachment, loyalty, and commitment. This means there is also an opportunity for companies to continue nurturing traveler relationships post-trip, because even though this particular trip has come to an end, there is room to prepare someone for their next journey.

How to Communicate with Travelers: Considerations and Questions for Messaging that Attracts and Inspires

In an attempt to lure travelers, travel brands and service providers may use appealing messaging that aligns with what tourism has come to represent for most people. This means choosing terminology and imagery that is tantalizing and attractive — for example, sprinkling in words like “authentic” and “untouched” while photos show pristine beaches with lush palm trees and cobblestoned streets lined with quaint cafes.

The truth is, any place and experience is far more complex than this. While it’s tempting to rely on common tropes, it can uphold systems of harm and oppression, attract the wrong kind of visitor, establish inaccurate expectations, and encourage the ongoing telling of an inaccurate story.

As your travel brand drafts communication about your product, service, or experience intended to attract and inspire people early in the customer journey, keep these considerations in mind:

#1: Who is Your Story Attracting?

To capture the right audience, your company must thoroughly understand who your potential customers are, identify their challenges and motivations, and communicate the ways your particular product or service meets their needs or desires. You must also connect them with the right solution using the right messaging on the right platforms at the right time.

Perhaps this is obvious, but your company must be crystal clear on its mission, purpose, and values. The storytelling elements you choose — the words, images, narrative arc, etc. — reflects your brand, so make these decisions with care.

Key Questions to Ask:

• How are you portraying a place or experience? Do your content choices paint it as a backdrop perfect for social media, or is there more to its appeal?
• Does your story incorporate elements of diversity that acknowledge a wide spectrum of accessibility and inclusivity?
• Does the messaging capture the “vibe” of your brand while showing respect to the people and places travelers will encounter?

#2: What Expectations Have You Established with Initial Travel Messaging?

Just as there is a story crafted about what your brand stands for and offers, receivers of a message are also crafting a story. It is in these initial stages where travel brands seek to attract and inspire people that expectations about what you offer take shape.

A disconnection here can eventually turn a holiday upside down. That’s why it is important to be accurate, transparent, and honest so travelers know what they will encounter, how to prepare for a trip, and how to act and behave once they arrive.

Key Questions to Ask:

• Are travelers the center of the narrative, or do local people, environments, challenges, and achievements play a central role?
• Is this travel experience dictated by consumers, or are local norms and expectations clarified?
• Have you communicated what role travelers play in ensuring their own safety, comfort, and security?
• Is it clear what you will and will not provide, and what elements may be left up to chance?
• Have you reinforced common perceptions, or have you opened the door for potential discomfort and new ways of thinking?
• Have you been clear in establishing how you expect travelers to act and behave?
• Do travelers understand why it’s appropriate to act a certain way? Do they understand the consequences if they don’t follow the expectations established by local people and customs?

#3: What Does Your Inspirational Travel Content Leave Out?

It isn’t necessary to dump every detail into initial messaging with travelers. However, you must take responsibility for what you communicate and what you do not communicate.

There are two reasons for this: First, failing to educate travelers about the harms tourism can have in particular places or scenarios can cause even more harm. And, secondly, curated messaging that leaves people out of the narrative (such as those identifying with a certain race or gender) may inadvertently disclude them, even if you intend to be inclusive.

Key Questions to Ask:

• Have you provided historical or cultural context that acknowledges nuance or complexity?
• Does the dominant narrative form the basis of your messaging, or have you invited those who are historically silenced to provide input and perspective?
• Do travelers know about the challenges facing the destinations they visit, and do they know if and how they contribute to those challenges?
• When people visit a particular destination or participate in a certain activity, do they know where their money goes, who receives it, and what it funds?
• Who gets to decide the story being told, and whose voices go unheard?

#4: Are You Prepared to Match Messaging with Action?

Your marketing and sales team is trying to attract people to your travel product or service, but it’s essential that what they promise can actually be delivered. Or, if it can’t be promised (such as activities that might be derailed as a result of the weather), that caveats are clearly communicated.

From the person responding to social media inquiries to the tour’s driver, every interaction feeds into — or detracts from — customers’ preconceived expectations, which have been defined by your messaging. This is why brand alignment is so important: Any communication early in the customer journey must match what is delivered during the traveler journey. If everyone delivering content and experiences along this spectrum understands the why and how behind the brand story, this will be much easier to do.

It’s worth noting that unexpected, high-quality surprises can be a very good thing in tourism. (This is the idea of “under-promise and over-deliver.”) However, make sure any potential upgrades match the persona identified in the customer journey. For example, don’t communicate that a tour has a casual, backpacker vibe if an “upgrade” consists of higher-end accommodations with strict quiet hours and no community spaces.

Key Questions to Ask:

• Have we consistently communicated our travel company’s why and how to all employees and partners in the supply chain?
• Have we avoided making promises we can’t guarantee?
• Are there non-negotiable elements to our brand that no one should compromise on?
• Do we use language that clearly articulates what we offer?

Get in Touch: What to Communicate with Travelers Before They Leave Home

With a growing array of communication channels — many of them self-controlled, despite unpredictable algorithms — there are so many options for reaching potential and booked travelers. And yet what the tourism industry communicates has been slow to evolve, especially as it relates to pre-trip communication.

The tourism industry often focuses on where people should travel and what they should do, but it needs to put more emphasis on why people travel and how they should engage with experiences. This messaging should begin before travelers even leave home.

Yes, travelers need logistical details about what to pack and how to reach a tour’s starting point (noted briefly below). But pre-trip communication can and should be so much more.

Here are a few ideas on how to enhance pre-trip communication — and industry peers who are already experimenting in this space.

Logistical Details Travelers Need to Know

We won’t go into too much detail here because this is the typical stuff travel companies stick to when it comes to communicating with travelers prior to a trip. Established companies likely have the logistical information down to a science. This includes details related to:

• Preparation (packing list, insurance, currency, visas, vaccinations, etc.)
• The itinerary (day-to-day plan, accommodations, arrival/departure, etc.)
• Safety and conditions (skill level, activity expectations, weather, health requirements, security concerns, special considerations for specific travelers such as those identifying as LGBTQ+, etc.)
• Company values and expectations (sustainability standards, environmental considerations such as wildlife encounters or marine protocol, etc.)
• Customs and rules (relevant regulations and laws, cultural standards, etc.)
• Common FAQs (curated over time based on what other travelers ask and what your company wants travelers to know)
• Waivers and legalese

While a lot of this information is pretty standard, it’s important to review it regularly to ensure it’s up-to-date and accurate, especially as the climate and political conditions can be volatile.

Now let’s jump into the unexpected stuff …

Context: What Travelers Don’t Know They Want to Know

Compile a list of suggested books, movies/documentaries, podcast episodes, and TV shows that provide background information highlighting the history, culture, stories, and landscape of the places people will be visiting. Consider making a publicly available playlist featuring local musicians and traditional music.

Remember to source suggestions from a wide variety of storytellers and perspectives, and pay special attention to including materials challenging the dominant narrative. This is a key opportunity to introduce perspectives different from that often one-sided story frequently reinforced about this particular place and the people who live there. Don’t be afraid if this material makes people feel uncomfortable; you want to challenge the status quo.

Examples:

Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder, which offers leadership-focused trips for secondary school students, has a destination-specific pre-trip curriculum students walk through that provides historical and cultural context. The multi-session material includes a wide range reading material and videos, and students are encouraged to note unanswered questions they want to pursue either before or on their trip. 

Provide a 360-Degree Introduction to the Destination

It is astounding how many travelers are blissfully unaware about the reality of life for residents in the places they visit — and if they bump into this reality, how shocked they are to discover it. In addition to providing background or historical context, provide an unfiltered, realistic briefing about what’s happening in this place right now. Do not assume people know about anything related to environmental, social, or cultural hiccups in the destination’s fabric. Let people know about increased hostilities toward marginalized people, environmental issues like water and food shortages, political problems, societal challenges like homelessness and inflation, and the impact of the climate crisis.

Use pre-trip communication to clarify relevant issues, and, importantly, what travelers can do to ensure their visit doesn’t exacerbate these issues. Travelers are shielded by so much of this, but they can also be intentional in their knowledge and decisions related to these things. For example, even if their hotel isn’t subject to water rationing, travelers can still keep showers to a minimum. Or, travelers might be able to travel safely through a country, but they can also be mindful of how migrants are being treated just beyond the minivan doors.

The assumption that people are going on holiday and don’t want to know about these things may be incorrect; it might be they don’t know where to find this information, and people can’t be expected to know what they don’t know.

Examples:

In addition to cultural and historical context, Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder gets into the nitty-gritty of daily life in all of its pre-trip curricula. In its Panama-related material, for example, students learn about the challenges in Panama’s educational system. For students headed to Costa Rica, there’s a video about the connection between conservation and poverty. And those going to Puerto Rico learn about the island’s work in moving away from food imports to food independence.

When hosting certain student groups from the United States traveling to Peru, Vamos Expeditions facilitates a pen pal program whereby participating students exchange letters written in Spanish with Peruvian students in the months leading up to the trip. This is a chance to practice their language skills and learn about daily life from kids their own age.

Get People in the Right Mindset

Are we really surprised people are ticking off “must-see” sites when so much communication — including pre-trip messaging — hypes these attractions? The tourism industry is in need of a paradigm shift, which means the way it delivers travel experiences and the way travelers engage with them needs to shift too.

A lot of people know they need to travel differently, but they’re not sure what to do. Offer that guiding hand. Help travelers rethink their role and presence within the spaces they visit. Ask questions about their intentions and purpose for traveling: What is their why? Suggest they take time to journal or reflect upon what it means to be a traveler in today’s world. There are a lot of great guided journals and resources that can help with this kind of communication; take advantage of them.

Examples:

Prior to departure, student groups traveling with STC Expeditions meet for an interactive session to talk about what they can expect while traveling and how to prepare appropriately. These conversations are wide-reaching, touching on both the positive and negative impacts of tourism in the destination. Students are encouraged to ask hard questions and reflect on how their presence as visitors will affect their experiences. They grapple with and talk through ethical quandaries, preparing them to travel more mindfully and intentionally.

Support Local Community Initiatives

While the element of surprise is important in travel experiences, it’s never too early to begin introducing travelers to the places they’ll encounter and the local residents they’ll meet. Booked passengers are already invested and supportive of the communities they’ll visit, so let them know what that support looks like. 

Introduce them to local initiatives or charities your organization supports. Small, community-based groups often have shoestrap budgets, so this is a great way to amplify their work. Share the stories of changemakers and how these initiatives impact the wider community. 

Keep in mind this isn’t the place for your company to play savior; rather, it’s a chance to highlight those organizations and people who rarely get the spotlight. It’s also a way travelers can begin to “give back” to the people and organizations that make their chosen holiday destination unique.

Examples:

When guests arrive for their trip with Bodhi Surf + Yoga, they’re already well aware their stay is about far more than a yoga and surf retreat. In its series of pre-trip communications, the company introduces visitors to its Ocean Guardian mission, on-the-ground environmental efforts, and community impact through a video series. Bodhi also shares the full-length documentary, The Bodhi Wave, in pre-trip communication, which touches on conservation philanthropy, environmental stewardship, and social transformation through tourism.

Similarly, before diving into any logistical information with booked travelers, The Wild Source emphasizes its commitment to exceptional wildlife viewing and using travel as a tool to empower local people and conserve wildlife and wild places. The company’s close on-the-ground partnerships with Maasai, Dorobo, and Bushmen guides are deeply ingrained in its ethos, and it’s important for travelers to understand why.

With Their Feet on the Ground: How to Make the Perfect On-The-Ground Trip Better Using Storytelling

You’ve invested an exceptional amount of time and attention on developing your products, services, and experiences. Building the perfect offering means laying out the most impactful itinerary and fitting the right activities in with the right cadence. It means hiring tour guides and helping them fully realize their potential as on-the-ground ambassadors. And, it requires getting the ideal travelers to book — something you did during the attraction and inspirational stage of the customer journey.

At the heart of all of these is communication. Each component encompasses interaction, connection, and conveying information that ties the three pieces together. Often, these three components — the itinerary or series of activities and events, the guides and other on-the-ground providers, and the travelers — are considered in isolation. However, if we rethink the pieces of a trip as elements of a story, we can see how they work in concert to enhance or detract from each other.

The Itinerary: Plot, Theme, and Structure

Let’s start with the itinerary and those activities slotted in at the right times. Built into this are the plot (the events or activities), structure (pace and how/when information is delivered), and theme (the main point or intention). The most enticing stories might also have tension, moments of reflection or reprieve, and unknown elements that act as cliffhangers — all of which can be built into trips as well.

In other words, think of this as more than an itinerary; it is, in and of itself, a story. Additionally, each individual encounter, activity, or interaction is its own story. It has a beginning, middle, and end. It may involve conflict or a lesson. It may surface unknown information or answer a question. These “micro-stories” may be memorable on their own. However, savvy trip designers build strategic messaging across the scope of an entire trip instead of jamming activities into a schedule without cohesion. They use the itinerary as the overarching narrative built upon these micro-stories. 

Trips like these, where travelers have a chance to explore the complexities of the narrative from numerous angles and perspectives, are unique and powerful. They weave together storylines just like a book, with a variety of characters, conflicts, encounters, ideas, and conversations. Sometimes they tie together nicely at the end, and travelers are immensely satisfied by how everything contrasted and complemented each other so perfectly. Occasionally, they leave travelers with more questions, eager to hear how the story continues after turning the final page — after arriving home. 

These are the trips — the stories — people keep talking about. These itineraries essentially become stories of their own, leaving a profound and lasting impression.

The Guide: A Narrator and Storyteller

Choosing the right tour guide is about far more than hiring someone to lead travelers from activity to activity. Local guides are the pivotal storytellers during a travel experience, and their importance cannot be overstated. Guides need to be empowered to provide historical and cultural context. They should be able to anticipate travelers’ questions and curiosities, and take advantage of these moments of interest to help travelers engage further.

Hiring the right guides is about more than finding competent hosts. Tour guides — and other people travelers interact with, including drivers, activity hosts, and accommodation owners — should be made aware of the impact of their communication. They should understand the story they are sharing throughout a trip — building intrigue, knowing what to deliver when, responding to the audience, and serving as a guide both in the tourism and narration sense. They must do this while also using tactical communication skills to reinforce expectations with travelers, introduce local people with respect, and encourage conversations in which travelers question their preconceived perceptions.

Their delivery of the trip’s story shouldn’t be one-way communication, though. Listening with intention, making space for reflection, and empowering people to flex their own communication and critical thinking skills is part of their job as storytellers as well.

The Traveler: A Character in the Story

With thoughtful messaging, you’ve attracted the kinds of people that best align with your travel brand. Now that they have feet on the ground, help them embrace their role as a character in the story.

In some stories, characters are fairly passive and without agency, as if they are puppets. Your traveler might embody this kind of character if they’re on a cruise or spending the week at an all-inclusive resort. That is, there is a confined box in which they move, experience, and wonder. The plot is fairly straightforward. If, however, you run a travel company where travelers participate in active learning, are encouraged to ask thoughtful questions, and converse with each other about the trip experience, the characters themselves add texture to the story.

It’s important to note that even though the travelers on your trip might be your central focus — and therefore take on a “main” character role — this doesn’t mean the experience should be traveler-centric. The storyline of a trip will fold in lots of characters; some will stick with you throughout the entire journey (other travelers, a driver, etc.), and others will pop in and out as a trip progresses (accommodation owners, experience providers, etc.). They each play a role in adding to the plot, creating connections between micro-stories, and providing context. But, in the spirit of intentional, responsible travel, don’t position travelers as saviors.

When the Trip Ends, Communication Should Not

As travelers eat their final meal and sleep their final night, the trip comes to an end but your communication with them should not.

You have invested so much to this point: In crafting the right messages and showing up in the right spaces, you reached aligned travelers. In your pre-trip communication, you provided logistical information and prepared people with appropriate and responsible curiosity. During the trip, you recognized the opportunity to go beyond pinning together a series of activities and instead embraced the trip as a story in and of itself.

Don’t let all that work go to waste. Now, it’s time to maximize post-trip communication. Read the second part of this series for insight about communicating with travelers after a trip at “Keep the Conversation Going: Ideas for Post-Trip Communication with Guests.”