Do you know that you can travel around the world for free? Even better, you can get paid as you travel to your dream destinations. This is possible through the help of travel sponsors.
A travel sponsor can be a company or people who run a business or cause and are willing to sponsor your trip in exchange for promoting their brands.
If you are a travel blogger with an established website with thousands of page views or someone who has many followers on social media, it will not be easy, but a bit easier for you to get sponsors.
Now, getting a travel sponsor may not be difficult but a bit tricky. One important thing you need to remember is that these sponsors are also expecting something in return. And you have to convince them that helping you travel around the world can be beneficial for them.
Why Travel Sponsorship is the Best Way to Travel
Travel sponsorships are popular among travel bloggers, vloggers and social media personalities. We all know that going on a trip around the world requires a significant amount of money. But with travel sponsorships, companies or individuals can help you fulfill your travel goals in exchange for promoting their brand.
A travel sponsorship agreement may allow you to travel the world stress-free. At least from a money perspective. Imagine going places without worrying about how much money you are spending.
Having said that, sponsorship comes with commitments, therefore another type of stress. We’ve detailed that in this article on sponsorship.
We have to admit that these full cash sponsorships are extremely rare, unless you are a well established blogger or influencer.
But once you reach that level you don’t need to save much for the hefty travel fares or accommodation during your trip as there are companies who are willing to spend their money in exchange for you promoting their brand on your blog, article or social posts.
Moreover, in many cases, travel sponsors will also assist with your travel itinerary. Some companies will go as far as getting you booked with exclusive getaway destinations or get your exclusive dining reservations among other perks.
And if you are promoting a brand of travel items, you may get free products as well.
The latter is actually a more frequent type of sponsorship deal than cash sponsorships.
Sponsors featured on the side of our truck
Tips To Get Travel Sponsorships
Make sure to follow these tips so that you can easily land an exciting travel sponsorship with companies that offer general travel sponsorship packages.
1. Be proactive in finding travel sponsorship.
Even if you are a popular blogger or social media personality, you need to be extra proactive to find travel sponsorships especially. This is especially true if you are trying to get your first time to work with travel sponsors.
Use your connections, blog or social media account to announce that you are interested in travel sponsorships. If you know of companies or people who are into the travel niche as you do, reach out to them. Check also with other travel bloggers if they have some recommendations.
2. Before you reach out to your prospect sponsors, work on making your travel blog or social media account stand out.
Before you start finding a travel sponsor or sponsors to help you travel the world for free, you should first work on improving your travel blog if you are a blogger or work on getting more active followers if you are into social media platforms. That way, you can easily convince your sponsors that you can indeed promote their brands.
3. Think of a travel project that will entice companies or sponsors to let you promote their brands as you travel.
You will have a high chance of getting sponsorship for your trip if you also have a good travel project in mind that will give companies an opportunity to promote their brands. Merely saying that you wished to travel the world won’t get you a paid or sponsored trip even if you are the most popular blogger.
Make your travel project stand out by making it more personal and specific. One example of a good travel project will be “To conquer Mt. Kilimanjaro in 5 days to help me overcome my fear of heights.”
4. Prepare an enticing pitch.
Once you have a list of your potential sponsors, call or email them and tell them about your travel plans and how you can promote their brands through it, in an enticing pitch.
In your pitch, be sure to also include information about the traffic you are getting in your blog site or social media posts so they’ll know how many people they could possibly reach if they will sponsor your trip.
5. Don’t give up easily.
Some companies will give you an outright no for an answer while others may say that they will think about it.
Getting travel sponsorships can be challenging if it is your first time in this kind of travel arrangement. But don’t give up yet as you will never know if the next person or company you are calling or sending an email to might give you a positive response.
FAQ
Q: Can I get a company to sponsor my trip even though I am not a travel blogger?
Yes, it is possible to get companies or people to work with you on a paid or sponsored trip even though you are not a travel blogger. You can also easily get sponsorship if you have a strong following on social media or if you have a popular vlog site.
Q: What is the best way to contact potential sponsors, is it through email or call?
If you have both the email address and contact number of your prospect sponsors, you have nothing to lose if you do both. However, if it is your initial conversation, it is always good to consider calling first. Calling a sponsor can help you build rapport easily. But regardless of which method you use, you should always be ready with your media kit and pitch.
Q: Aside from promoting the brand, is there anything else that I need to do for my sponsor?
In a sponsorship contract, it will tell you the things that you need to do to get paid or sponsored for your trip. Make sure that you comply with what you initially agreed upon in your contract.
Q: Are there any drawbacks to sponsored trips?
A paid or sponsored trip has some drawbacks that you need to know. For one, you need to commit part of your travel time to promote a brand or brands if you have multiple sponsors.
In some cases, your sponsors may require you to bring their products to your trip so you can blog about them. And this could mean having extra baggage when you want to travel light. It also comes with commitments and with more rigid plans, blog or social media posts.
Q: Are there any other alternatives?
Yes. A great alternative would be to make money on the road. There are countless opportunities to earn the cost of your flights and accommodation from being a virtual assistant to running your own online agency. The number of options to make money while traveling are endless.
Conclusion
If it is your first time to hear about travel sponsorship, think of it as a good opportunity for you to take that much-needed vacation, and travel the world stress-free.
The first thing you need to do is find prospect sponsors, get their contact information, and reach out to them via call or email. You can then follow the rest of the tips we mentioned about how to get a travel sponsorship.
Overall, think of travel sponsorship as a win-win arrangement between you as a travel blogger and a company that wants to promote its brand. You may have a bit of freedom to lose, but if you compare it to the scenario where you wouldn’t be able to afford travel at all, it’s a great solution.
