Easing border restrictions and the return of international travel continues to saturate the global news cycle. As a result, travel journalists are increasingly looking for new and exciting story pitches to deliver to audiences looking for a great flight deal, or a new destination to explore.
Telum asked a selection of prominent Australian travel journalists the top three things they want to see in a travel content pitch.
Chris Chamberlin, Senior Writer / Editor (Airlines / Hotels) at Point Hacks:
- Subject lines: If you're going to send me a press release, please make sure it has a good subject line. Give me the juiciest piece of content from your email in the subject line to grab my attention.
- Relevance: Please make sure it's relevant. Sending me emails about baby products when I work for a travel website is not going to get your story covered.
- Images: If you're sending an email from somewhere like a hotel or destination please make sure there are lots of high resolution images available.
Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan, Managing Editor of First Class Magazine:
- Quirky: I love quirky pitches. Bog snorkelling, toe wrestling, sleeping with the fish underwater!
- Adverbs: Get rid of them! Put them under a murky swamp and have their adjective friends join them there too.
- Photos: Put one in with your pitch and give me a drop box link to as many as possible.
Natasha Dragun, Editor of Vacations & Travel:
- Subject lines: Have a really strong subject line that ties into a hook. I get hundreds of emails a day, why should I be opening your email?
- Understand my publication: If you're sending me a pitch about baby food, it's probably not the right thing for a travel magazine. If you can tell me where in the magazine it fits specifically, you're saving me time and showing me that you really want your story featured in the magazine.
- Links to images: Please attach a link to images that does not expire. I often don't have the time to look through those images until I'm on deadline, and if the links are expired, I'm likely to go with another pitch.