Voice in travel copywriting: your complete guide
Voice in travel copywriting: your complete guide When I meet potential clients for the first time, they often say: ‘Weird, I feel like I know you. Even though we’ve never met’. In truth, it’s not that weird. The same potential clients are often regulars in theTour Pro Talks audience. But more significantly, they’re nearly always Club Campion members, subscribers to my bi-weekly emails on copywriting. This means that even if we’ve never directly interacted they are used to my voice: the way I tell stories, my pet phrases and expressions, my sense of humour. Over time, this has built up a sense of familiarity. It’s that old marketing chestnut: they feel they know me and like me, so they trust me. Why voice matters in travel and tourism copy If you run a tour company, manage short term rentals, operate a B&B or work anywhere in the travel and tourism industry, you already know how stiff the competition is. There are gazillions of other businesses offering similar experiences, similar accommodation, similar tours. So how can you stand out from the crowd? The answer isn’t flashier photos or fancier amenities. It’s something much more powerful and personal. And that something is: your voice. Just as you have a unique speaking voice, you have your very own writing voice. And it’s what makes people (your people, that is) choose you over everyone else. It’s what builds trust before someone ever meets you. It’s also what turns browsers into bookers and one-time guests into life-long admirers. This guide will show you exactly how to find, develop, and use your own voice so you can feel much more confident about standing out and connecting with your ideal guest. What you’ll learn This is a comprehensive guide to voice in copywriting, and it’s the foundation for a series of detailed posts I’m writing – all specifically for travel and tourism professionals. Maybe you’re just starting to think about your brand voice? Perhaps you’re ready to refine what you’ve already got. Either way, you’ll find what you need here. In this guide, we cover: What I’m talking about when I talk about voice How to identify your own voice Why consistency matters across all your customer touchpoints The AI trap (and how to avoid it) How to develop your voice with professional support You can read straight through, or jump to the section that’s calling to you right now. What voice does for your travel business You’ve heard this before, but it’s worth saying again. People don’t just book holidays. They book experiences. They book feelings. They book connection. When someone’s choosing between your cottage and another one, between your tour and a competitor’s, they’re not just comparing amenities. They’re asking themselves: ‘Do I trust these people? Do they seem like my kind of folk? Will I vibe with them?’ Your voice answers all of these questions before you ever speak a word face-to-face. Being self-aware when it comes to your voice, and then having the confidence to go ahead and use it (so you don’t just sound like all the other robots bleeping into the void) is huge. It can work wonders for your business, as it: builds trust fast shows what you’re like and what you believe in sets you apart from your competitors creates emotional connection makes your marketing memorable attracts the right guests (and repels the wrong ones) turns casual browsers into engaged readers gets engaged readers pressing ‘Book now’ and feeling excited about it. Without a clear voice? Your copy sounds like everyone else’s. Generic. Forgettable. And easily replaced by the next listing down. What is voice? (and what is idiolect?) Let’s start by getting clear on what we mean by ‘voice’ when it comes to writing. Your voice is how you sound when you write. It’s your personality on the page. It’s the sum total of your: word choices sentence structures tone (warm, professional, cheeky, thoughtful) rhythm and pacing humour (or lack thereof) unique phrases and expressions values and perspective But there’s an even more specific term that’s useful here: idiolect. While a dialect is what’s shared by a group of speakers regionally, your idiolect is uniquely yours. It’s your personal linguistic fingerprint: your vocabulary, your grammar quirks, your funny little expressions that your friends would recognise as being ‘so you’. You’ve inherited expressions from your parents, maybe even your grandparents. You’ve picked up phrases from your kids, your friends and your colleagues. You use words from your childhood, your region, your experiences. This is your idiolect. Everyone has one, which is why it’s a crying shame that there are so many identikit voices online. Everyone sounds the same because they’re not using their idiolect. They’re using corporate-speak, or AI-generated bland-speak, or what they think ‘professional’ writing should sound like. If you harness your idiolect (meaning that if you write like you actually talk) you’ll put yourself head and shoulders above most other travel and tourism businesses out there. How to find your voice Finding your voice isn’t about inventing a persona or trying to sound a certain way. It’s about uncovering what’s already there. The best way to discover your idiolect is by doing a voice audit—that means taking a systematic look at how you actually communicate when you’re not trying to sound ‘professional’. This involves: Mining your text messages for patterns and phrases Recording yourself talking naturally about your business Collecting your quirky expressions and regionalisms Analyzing the gap between how you talk and how you write Read: I’ve created a complete, step-by-step voice audit guide with detailed instructions to help you through the process. Voice consistency: why it matters everywhere Finding your voice is only half the battle. The other half? Using it consistently across every single customer touchpoint. Think about all the places your words appear: your website (homepage, about page, listings) booking confirmations welcome messages and pre-arrival emails out-of-office replies social