The Future of Travel Creator Monetisation: Insights from World Travel Market 2025

The travel content creation landscape is evolving rapidly, and successful creators are those who adapt their monetisation strategies to meet changing market demands. At World Travel Market 2025, Kateryna Topol (Toronto-based Design Director, travel writer, photographer, and founder of Paths to Travel) moderated a compelling panel discussion featuring industry leaders from affiliate marketing platforms and travel brands. The insights shared by panellists including Frédéric Aouad (Chief Commercial Officer at Stay22), Natalya Wissink (Founder and CEO of Secret Escapes), and Colin Carter (Director of Weather2Travel.com) revealed what's working now and what's coming in 2026.

The Power of Data-Driven Affiliate Marketing

Frédéric Aouad from Stay22 highlighted one of the most compelling arguments for affiliate marketing in travel: the transparency it provides. Imagine being able to demonstrate that you've driven 10,000 hotel bookings in just two weeks. This concrete data becomes a powerful negotiating tool when approaching hotel brands or any travel category partner, justifying premium partnership terms.

However, success in affiliate marketing isn't simply about choosing the most recognisable brands. Regional nuances matter significantly. Whilst Booking.com dominates globally as an OTA leader, US audiences may respond better to Expedia. Southeast Asian travellers might prefer Agoda or Trip.com, whilst Chinese markets lean towards platforms like Ctrip. As Aouad emphasised, understanding your demographic data and aligning with the right merchant for your audience is crucial for driving transactions and building sustainable revenue streams.

Diversification: The Creator's Safety Net

Current data reveals that successful creators maintain between four and five income streams on average. Whilst this represents considerable work, diversification has become essential for building resilience in an increasingly fragmented digital landscape.

The strategy encompasses two key dimensions: diversifying both revenue sources and traffic channels. Creators who rely solely on platform-based income, such as YouTube ad revenue, understand its volatility. Similarly, website publishers experienced this vulnerability first hand with recent Google algorithm updates. The solution lies in developing multiple touchpoints: combining social media presence with owned websites, mixing sponsorships with affiliate revenue, and distributing content across various platforms.

The Evolving Affiliate Landscape

The UK market provides an instructive case study. According to the Affiliate and Partner Marketing Association's 2024 survey, travel generated £5 billion through affiliate channels, representing 14% of all online travel sales in the UK. This mature market has evolved over nearly 20 years, demonstrating the long term viability of affiliate partnerships.

Today's affiliate ecosystem offers multiple models. Traditional CPA networks operate on commission per acquisition basis, serving as intermediaries between creators and brands. Hybrid models combine click based and commission based revenue. Content based platforms allow creators to earn simply by driving traffic to brand sites, without requiring completed transactions. Direct relationships enable established creators to negotiate bespoke terms, including payment for exposure. And programmatic opportunities through platforms like Google offer impression based revenue for those with strong traffic metrics.

Leveraging AI Without Losing Authenticity

Artificial intelligence is transforming creator workflows, but it must be deployed thoughtfully. As Aouad pointed out, the reality is stark: few creators are passionate about optimising affiliate links, yet optimisation directly impacts revenue. AI solutions can automate link management, update evergreen content, and handle technical optimisation, freeing creators to focus on their true passion: creating compelling content.

However, panellists emphasised that the human element remains non-negotiable. Audiences engage with travel content because of authentic, first hand experiences. Natalya Wissink from Secret Escapes reinforced this point: "We have to balance using AI to help with efficiency whilst maintaining the human approach. That's why people enjoy our experiences. You have to have that first experience of the destination. It has to be real, not based on research or something else."

AI can provide frameworks and handle repetitive tasks, but genuine travel experiences and personal insights must remain at the core of content creation. The most successful approach combines AI efficiency with human authenticity.

What Brands Are Looking For

From the brand perspective, the creator landscape isn't as saturated with quality as it might appear. Whilst content proliferation is undeniable, truly excellent content remains relatively rare. Wissink outlined how Secret Escapes evaluates potential partnerships, examining several factors beyond follower counts.

Does the creator's audience align with the brand's target market? Are followers genuinely interacting with content? How does the creator present partnership opportunities? Is the content evergreen, providing lasting value?

Brands increasingly seek content they can own and repurpose: professional photography, comprehensive destination guides, and evergreen articles that continue delivering value long after publication. As Wissink explained, "We mostly focus on content that aligns with our branding and our customer. Social media stories and reels are valuable for brand awareness, but we typically pay more for professional photography or something more evergreen that we can own."

The panel emphasised that truly excellent blogs and YouTube content, particularly evergreen articles, continue to deliver the best results in terms of both engagement and commercial outcomes.

Preparing for 2026: Strategic Investments

Looking ahead, the WTM 2025 panel outlined several key priorities for the coming year.

Long term relationships trump transactional partnerships. As Carter from Weather2Travel explained, nearly 20 years of building relationships through face to face networking and consistent collaboration delivers superior results compared to one off campaigns. "We've been doing this for almost 20 years. We have really good relationships and understanding of their products and brands, so we can align the content to the products."

Owned content is becoming paramount. Brands are investing more heavily in content assets they can control and repurpose across multiple channels.

AI optimised organic search is critical. As AI overviews reshape search results, both creators and brands must adapt content strategies to maintain visibility. Carter noted the challenge directly: "Most brands have probably lost about 20% of their traffic this year because of AI overviews. We need to find ways to present content that allows us to get visibility in these new search formats."

Quality over quantity remains the mantra. Rather than chasing volume, the focus shifts towards authentic, well researched content that genuinely helps audiences make travel decisions.

Empowering creator success is the priority. Aouad emphasised Stay22's mission for 2026: "Our investment is empowering creators to earn more. We want to take that burden off of you and drive you the best financial outcome, saving you time so you can do what you want: go hiking, create content, rather than optimising the commercial part."

Adapting to the Changing Search Landscape

The elephant in the room is declining organic traffic. Many brands report approximately 20% traffic losses this year as AI powered search results reduce click throughs to websites. Creators and brands must adapt strategically.

Carter suggested practical approaches: "You can export your analytics into ChatGPT and ask it to analyse where you're at. Look at successful creators in your space using tools like SEMrush. Find out where their traffic comes from and identify what's missing in your own strategy."

Other adaptation strategies include optimising content for AI overview inclusion, diversifying traffic sources beyond traditional search, exploring image search optimisation for younger demographics, and representing content across multiple formats and platforms.

The panel also highlighted the importance of understanding different search behaviours. As one panellist noted, younger demographics increasingly use image search as their primary way of finding content online, presenting new opportunities for creators who adapt.

The Reality Check on Content Saturation

When asked about standing out in a saturated market, Aouad’s response was telling. "I don't think there's a saturation of really good content. There's a saturation of content in general. They're not all good."

The algorithms and platforms ultimately surface quality content. Creators who consistently deliver value continue to thrive. Topol illustrated this point: "I have content created from two years ago that still shows up in my feed every year. If you consistently create good content that helps people, it will continue to work for you."

This perspective offers reassurance for creators focused on quality: the barrier isn't the volume of competition, but rather maintaining standards that genuinely serve audiences.

The Bottom Line

The travel creator economy is maturing, and success increasingly favours those who embrace strategic thinking alongside creative excellence. The consensus from the World Travel Market 2025 panel was clear: by diversifying income streams, leveraging technology thoughtfully, building genuine brand relationships, and consistently delivering authentic, valuable content, creators can build sustainable businesses that withstand platform changes and market volatility.

The creators who succeed won't necessarily be those with the largest followings, but rather those who deeply understand their audience, optimise their business operations, and maintain the authentic voice that drew followers in the first place. As we move into 2026, this balanced approach (combining data driven decision making with genuine storytelling) will separate successful creator businesses from hobbyists struggling to monetise their passion.

The panel's insights reinforce a fundamental truth: in an industry experiencing rapid technological change, the human element becomes more valuable, not less. Authentic experiences, genuine expertise, and content that truly helps people make better travel decisions will always find an audience and commercial success.

This article draws insights from the World Travel Market 2025 panel discussion moderated by Kateryna Topol, featuring Frédéric Aouad (Stay22), Natalya Wissink (Secret Escapes), Colin Carter (Weather2Travel.com), and other industry leaders.