How to make a travel brochure

Heyzine Team -

First things first:

What is a travel brochure?

A travel brochure is a printed or digital publication designed to provide information about a particular destination or travel experience.

These brochures are typically created by travel agencies, tourism boards, or businesses to attract visitors and provide them with information about the destination.

The goal of a travel brochure is to inspire and inform potential travelers, encouraging them to choose the destination for their next adventure.

In this article, we aim to help you with the creation of your travel content, providing some useful tips and considerations to have in mind to start from scratch with your brochure.

Outline the travel brochure

In the first place, it’ll be necessary to select the destination that you’re going to make the content about and investigate its most famous places, culture, traditions, foods, markets, and seasonal events.

Consider when the travel brochure will be distributed. When possible, the best option is to work on different brochures for each season to make it more appealing and useful. For example, you can use summer or winter pictures, warm or cold colors in the design, add more relevant information about events or activities on the dates, and so you can create a brochure with a much more specific context for the traveler.

With that in mind, you then can create an outline of everything you will include on the brochure, and most importantly, you’ll need to verify that the information you’ve collected is trustworthy. Make sure that the sources where you took this information from have comments, reviews, or is an official site.

When someone decides to travel to a city and is looking for a brochure, he most probably has never been there, so you want to ensure that the people reading your content get the best information possible in a straightforward and clear way. You can always add links or references for the reader to expand the information and go deeper.

Use illustrative pictures that will allow the reader to discover the charm of the focal points like monuments, and nature, and have a brief idea of what that place is about. Make sure that these pictures are high quality, and try not to use pictures that don’t show authentic colors. Making a place look better than it is with an overly retouched image will only make the traveler disappointed and blame the brochure or, worse, the brand.

Add maps to your brochure to make it more useful. They could be interactive so your readers can see the places they want to visit and what will be around.

Include recommendations about places where the tourist can eat typical food, where they can go shopping, carnivals, events, etc. And, of course, mention your services, such as if you offer guidance, accommodation, transportation, etc.

You can also contact the best places when you do not offer these specific services. It is usually possible to reach agreements or partnerships with them. Keep in mind that the satisfaction of your reader is more important than the profitability of a partnership.

How to create a travel brochure?

What’s inside a travel brochure?

The cover often features a captivating image or illustration of a key attraction from the destination. It may also include the destination's name and a slogan representing the place.

A brief introduction or welcome message that sets the tone for the brochure and entices readers to explore the destination. This can be about the city, the country, or an introduction to your services.

Add the main destinations. This section must highlight the main attractions, landmarks, and activities that make the destination unique. It may include images, descriptions, and key selling points. Add information about historical facts about the destination.

Add a map of the area to help readers get a sense of the geography and the location of major points of interest. The map can be interactive or have the places highlighted with illustrations. As we mentioned, this will help your readers spend more time looking at the brochure, which will help your brand retention.

Include accommodations, like information about hotels, resorts, and other lodging options in the area, including information about amenities, room types, and contact information.

Descriptions of various activities and entertainment options available in the destination, such as tours, excursions, and cultural events. Here it is necessary to consider when the travel brochure will be distributed in order to include only the events of the specific season and not to overload it with unnecessary information.

Information about local cuisine, popular restaurants, and dining options, including special dishes or culinary experiences unique to the area. When possible talk to someone who lives near the area. Many of the best restaurants are not very public, and your reader will appreciate a good, not-so-well-known place to eat.

Select the appropriate information about transportation. Add details on how to get to the destination, and the most exclusive or affordable ways. This section may also include links to buy transportation tickets. It's something most travelers don't like spending time on.

Make sure to include useful information such as local customs, language tips, currency details, and other practical advice.

It's also a good idea to save some space to add quotes or testimonials from previous visitors, providing positive feedback about their experiences in the destination.

Always include your contact details for the tourism board, travel agencies, or businesses mentioned in the brochure and near the testimonials or in the context of the services offered, allowing visitors to seek further information at the right time.

What to add to the design of a Travel brochure?

The role of a travel brochure design is important to create visually appealing and informative publications. As one, you can use different tools that will prove templates to have somewhere to start with your design, for example you can work with Canva, Venngage, InDesign, among others.

Travel brochure designers are responsible for conceptualizing the visual elements of the brochure. This includes selecting appropriate images, graphics, and layout styles that capture the essence of the destination. For example, using a classic font for an Athens travel brochure, a modern background for a Tokyo travel, or a warm color palette for a Caribean trip.

You should also ensure that the brochure aligns with you branding guidelines to reinforce the brand identity.

The layout and composition of the brochure involves arranging text, images, and other design elements in a way that is aesthetically pleasing and guides the reader through the content logically. For example, you can add "Did you know?" boxes with facts or tips, relevant maps or infographies in-between the text or maybe a layout with testimonials at the bottom of each section.

Choose the right typography for readability and to maintain the overall theme of the design. You should choose two fonts or three at most to keep the design consistent, and it should be very legible in case the traveler is on the move.

Selecting high-quality images that showcase the destination's attractions and atmosphere is key. This is the first thing that will catch your reader attention, and it can be difficult to differentiate from any other travel brochure about the same place. You can be creative by using close-up pictures for what would normally be a landscape. Or combine images of a monument: a small one easily recognizable and a larger one with unusual or uknown details. Including photos of people enjoying activities can also help your reader reflect on what will happen when he gets there.

While designing the brochure you also need to organize information in a structured way. You can emphasize a travel route, a theme, the history behind a place or the importance for quick or long travels. Depending on the research of the destination and the target audience, you must choose the appropriate organization.

When you know the brochure will be printed, using a print-first approach is a good idea. It is easier to make a printed document become digital than the other way around. You need to consider specifications such as paper size, folds, bleed margins, and the minimum resolution of the images you will use. Always keep in mind what sections will become interactive when online. This will help you take the appropiate design decisions early on. For example, a printed map should be large enough to be easily navigable when converted to a Google map in the digital version.

Bring a creative flair to the project, exploring innovative ways to present information to stand out. Add interactions like videos, webs to official sites, typical music of the country, links, among others, this will make the content more interactive and fun to watch for the travelers.

Things to consider when creating a travel brochure.

Who is your audience?

The target audience for a travel brochure can vary depending on the destination, the purpose of the content, and the marketing strategy. However, in general, the primary audience includes:

  • Individuals who are considering traveling to the destination
  • People who have a general interest in travel
  • Bussiness travelers
  • Tour operators
  • Educational institutions or cultural organizations
  • Event planners promoting conferences or special occasions
  • National, or local governmental entities promoting their city or region

You don't have to stick to the general category you are targeting. Go as deep as you can researching the target audience:

  • Analyze the destination main attractions: Will it attract families? honeymooners, cultural enthusiasts?
  • Understand the demographics: Is it a destination for older or younger people? Is it an expensive or luxury destination?
  • Think about the travel motivations: Is it a leisure or a business travel? Must be an adventure or a relaxed experience?

This will help you define the tone of the text and the design of your brochure, and will make it easier for you to decide what to recommend for places to go, routes to follow, restaurants to eat, or activities to do.

What to avoid?

Things to avoid when making a travel brochure:

Avoid overloading the brochure with too much information. A clean and organized design is more attractive and more accessible to readers.

Try not to mislead the reader. They are trusting you for a travel to an unknown place. Focusing on their interests and preferences will help your brand more than any promotion or partnership.

Keep the information updated. What could be worse than planning and going to a remote site only to find that it is closed for renovations? Keep a list of the activities and update your brochure often. Make it clear to your readers when you updated something and they will see that they are in good hands.

Don't leave the digital version aside. Ensure that it is digital and mobile-friendly. Many people access travel information on smartphones, so the brochure should be easily viewable on any device. Allow your readers to download the content in case the connectivity is a problem, so they can access the brochure always.

Poorly edited images can impact the overall quality of the brochure. Images are what will initially attract your readers, they need to be high-quality and represent the destination well.

Long paragraphs of text can be overwhelming. Aim for concise and engaging content. Use bullet points, subheadings, and captions to break up the text and make it more friendly. Avoid using complex langage, keep the language simple and accessible.

Make an online travel brochure

Now that you created the best possible travel brochure you can make it online with Heyzine. A few and easy steps and it looks like this:

We have various guides on how to create your travel brochure flipbook, add interactivity, group them in digital bookshelves, or embed hem to your website.

Go ahead and inspire more people to travel the world.