Posted: 4/8/2024 | April 8th, 2024
TravelCon is back! In 2022, after five years (through a pandemic), I ended TravelCon. However, my friends at FinCon offered to run it (thus reducing my workload) so we brought it back! If you’re media or PR in the travel industry, this is the best industry event for you to attend!
TravelCon is a three-day travel media event that focuses on helping you improve your craft, learn new business skills, network with your peers, and connect you with all the awesome brands and tourism boards that attend!
This year, TravelCon will be May 15-17th in Portland, Oregon and will feature pre- and post-event trips; meet-ups; dinner parties; and in-depth, actionable talks. The goal is to help travel creators go pro by turning their passion into a profession and then scale their online business.
At TravelCon, you can:
- Improve your craft in the four major areas of travel: video, photography, writing, and blogging
- Learn what’s hot, what works, and what doesn’t in the industry
- Keep current on the best practices in digital travel publishing
- Learn about new products and services in the industry
- Meet destinations and travel brands
- Learn from experts outside the travel industry
- Make connections with other travel lovers
- Have a ton of fun!!!
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What can you expect this year?
TravelCon is the business event for travel creators. The TravelCon sessions this year are going to focus on two things: going pro and scaling.
“Go Pro” sessions will empower part-time creators to go full-time with topics such as:
- Expanding your reach using advanced SEO, ads, & email marketing.
- Discovering creator tools and services to streamline your workflow.
- Diversifying how you monetize your content, including affiliate marketing and collaborations.
- Building effective partnerships with CVBs, DMOs, travel boards, travel brands, and local agencies.
“Scale” sessions are for full-time creators who are ready to scale their brand, reach, content, and profit, with topics such as:
- Equipping your brand with the right team members, tools, and services.
- Diversifying your revenue streams, including product development, courses, or membership communities.
- Maintaining balance to avoiding burnout as a full-time creator and digital nomad.
- Leveraging AI & other emerging tech for content creation & business growth.
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Networking Opportunities
Connecting brands and creators is at the core of our event. We provide lots of opportunities to “find your people” and do business in a way that feels natural and organic.
- Expo – Featuring Travel Boards, Brands, CVBs, DMOs, creator service providers, and more — many with specially-curated offers, partnerships, and products to discuss with attendees. Over 40 brands and DMOs are attending this year!
- 1:1 Meetings – Schedule one-on-one meetings with brands, sponsors, and travel boards using our event software. All attendees can participate!
- Meetups – Find your people in meetups tailored to your platform or niches. Our goal is to connect you with as many creators as possible!
- Creator Conversations – These are a hybrid between a session and mini masterminds led by creators and focused on topics that are more niche than general. They provide an opportunity to connect with other like-minded travel creators and to learn from each other.
- Evening Events – Who doesn’t love letting loose with your travel friends? Have fun at the Welcome Reception, Dinner Clubs, Late Night Meetups, and more.
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Speakers
Like in previous years, we’re going to have a lot of incredible speakers. You can see a full list on the website, but some confirmed speakers are:
- Me!
- Jeff Jenkins, Chubby Diaries
- Raime Iacofano, Raimee’s Travel
- Rand Fishkin, SEO guru
- Preethi Chandrasekhar, The Eager Traveler
- Jessica Serna, My Curly Adventures
- Katherine Fan, Badass freelance writer
- Kemoy Martin, Travel & lifestyle creator
- Kristin and Siya, Hopscotch the Globe
- Rachel Rudwell, Rachel Roams
Come join me for the best travel show out there. Of course, I’m biased because I started it, but I made this the kind of event that I’d want to attend. One that focuses on business, networking, and improving your skills while having a good time doing it.
Tickets are $499 and you can purchase them here.
It’s going to be a blast! I hope to see you there!
Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks
Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner. It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned.
Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels.
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:
Want to Travel for Free?
Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals.
Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip?
Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more.
Ready to Book Your Trip?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip.
