How To Get Paid To Travel and Review Hotels

How To Get Paid To Travel and Review Hotels

Who doesn’t have a travel bug? It’s hard to find anyone out there who doesn’t dream of ocean waves, historic venues, and exotic city life. However, we all know that traveling is really expensive. Fortunately, there are several lucrative ways for travelers to explore the world AND get paid for doing it. 

One of the ways you can earn money while traveling is by reviewing hotels. Essentially, a hotel reviewer stays at various hotels and writes a detailed report of their experience. A hotel reviewer’s employment could be directly through the company and be more of a quality control position. Or, the job could be sharing candid reviews through an online blog as a travel influencer! 

The average salary of a hotel reviewer is about $50,000, however, top reviewers have earned closer to $90,000. Plus, if you have a travel blog, there are a lot of other ways your content could be profitable, whether it’s a side hustle or the primary way you earn money. 

All in all, hotel reviewing is an exciting career that takes you to far-off places and unique hotel venues. It’s the perfect way to offset travel costs and, instead, make money as you venture around the globe. So, today, we’re sharing how to get started reviewing hotels and we’re listing other ways you can make money while traveling. Are you ready? Allons-y! 

How To Get Paid To Travel and Review Hotels

How To Get Paid To Travel and Review Hotels

Develop your writing skills.

In order to be hired as a hotel reviewer (or a reviewer of any kind) you need to have stellar writing skills. You need to communicate all the details in a way that’s engaging and informative. It’s not as easy as it looks! Start practicing writing reviews and other material to exercise your literary muscles. Even consider taking a creative writing course. 

Establish your online presence.

As your writing gets better, establish your online presence. In order to have value for the hotel companies that’ll pay you for your reviews, you must have influence. You can show them your influence through an engaged online following. This audience could be on a social media channel like Instagram, TikTok, or Pinterest. Or, you could start your own blog. Even better, you could do both! 

Consider an entry-level position in the travel industry. 

Another great way to get into the travel scene is to find a job in the industry! Start in an entry-level position and work your way up until you have enough leverage to get into hotel reviewing. Experience with traveling around the world and staying in lots of hotels will make you a great fit for most hotel reviewer positions. 

There is lots of work in the travel industry. Flight attendants, tour guides, cruise ship team members, travel agents, vacation planners, and quality inspectors are all great entry-level jobs you can get in the travel industry right now.

Review for free.

To show hotels your value, start writing reviews right now. Sure, you’re not going to get paid for them, but they’ll pay off in the future when you can use them in your portfolio. Additionally, if hotels can see that your audience is engaged with these reviews, your influence will be even more valuable to them!

Freelance review. 

Next, explore freelance reviewing opportunities. Those free reviews you did will look great on an online profile. Then, you can start pitching for hotel review gigs on sites like UpWork and Fiverr, where companies look for skilled writers like you to review their hotels. Finally, you’ll be getting paid to write! 

Reach out for sponsorship. 

By this point, you’ll have a good portfolio of work and a large following. That’s enough to get a sponsored post! Reach out to the hotels directly and offer your services. However, before you do this, make sure you already have uploaded reviews for that hotel chain and you consistently engage with their posts on social media. When you finally contact them, have your brand kit, pricing, and offers clear and ready! You can read more about brand collaborations and sponsorships HERE

Establish long-term relationships with hotels directly.

If the hotels you’re collaborating with respond well to your reviews, maintain those relationships. Acknowledge their generosity, continue to engage with their social media posts, and request more review opportunities. At this point, they may even offer you larger contracts or full-time employment.

Pursue full-time employment.

Though you can freelance hotel reviews for as long as you like, there are actual hotel reviewer travel jobs out there. If you like the security of a more traditional job, but you want to travel, an official hotel reviewer position with a hotel chain is a great option. It’s worth looking into if your hotel reviewing game is strong!

Grow your brand.

If you’re running a successful blog, think bigger than just hotel reviews! You need to diversify your traffic sources by optimizing your blog for search engines and establishing a strong social media presence. Plus, consider making your blog more engaging by expanding your travel content, adding downloadable material, and even selling photography. There are so many ways to build your brand, you’ve just got to dream it! 

Jobs That Pay You To Travel And Review Hotels

13 Jobs That Pay You To Travel And Review Hotels 

Affiliate Marketer

Getting into affiliate marketing is a huge monetization opportunity! Affiliate marketing is when you share content about a specific product or service and make money off of the sales generated by that post. You earn cash using a special link that tracks sales and gives you a cut of the profits. There are a ton of travel affiliate programs that fit any blog! You can check them out HERE

Brand Ambassador 

First, you need to get some of those brand collaborations we talked about earlier. You get these through being a great customer and content creator before the relationship begins! Once you do a few successful collaborations with the brand, consider negotiating terms to become a brand ambassador. 

This role would have you as a consistent representative and marketer for the chosen brand. It’s a great way to make money if you have products and services you are passionate about. 

Social Media Influencer.

There are so many social media users who’d love to see you traveling the world. Once your influence is large enough, you can monetize your following by affiliate marketing and doing brand collaborations. If you’re looking to grow your following to this level, check out this post, which has tons of podcast resources to build your brand! 

Public Speaking

Do you have expertise in another area? Or, do you have a personal story that others would find motivational? You could pursue a career in public speaking! When you’re invited all over the globe to speak, guess what? The event managers cover your travel expenses and pay you for your time. It’s a great way to make money traveling!  

ESL Teacher

English is taught all over the globe. You can make money (anywhere from $600 – $4,000 a month) teaching English as a second language in many countries. Not only will you be visiting these countries as a tourist, but you’ll likely be living there for more extended periods of time—and getting paid to do it, of course. This is an amazing opportunity because when you stay somewhere for a while, you get a true cultural experience. 

Cruise Ship Team Member

Cruise ships offer a ton of jobs that allow you to ride along on every maritime adventure! Ships look for medical staff, managers, entertainers, cooks, housekeepers, and more. You get a dreamy cruise life that’s all paid for by the operator! The average wage for a cruise ship worker is about $50,000 a year. If you love the ocean, this could be the perfect job for you. 

Flight Attendant

Flight attendants are always in demand. Depending on the position you chose, you could travel domestically or internationally to see new sites and meet new people. It’s a great gig! Flight attendant salaries vary a lot by airline and by your experience, so you could make anywhere between $24,000 – $140,000 throughout your career. Plus, you get to go wherever the plane takes you, which is to some cool places. 

Tour Guide

If you know an area well, becoming a tour guide may be a good way to make money living abroad or in a new domestic location. You could give tourists a look at the city you love so much, and their payment for your services could keep you living and thriving in your new home. This can give you a lot of freedom and flexibility, however, tour guides only usually make about $32,000 a year

Reviewer

Of course, this post is all about getting paid to write hotel reviews. However, you don’t have to just be a hotel reviewer. You could write reviews for cruise ships, excursions, beaches, restaurants, and so much more. Anything you encounter while traveling, you can review for cash! 

Photographer

Photography can be a good source of income for a travel influencer. Lots of online stock imagery companies love quality photos of popular destinations. If you get good at it and develop a decent following, you could even sell your photos to bigger publications and sell prints on your website! 

Podcast Host

Podcasting is another way to develop a following and monetize your brand. A travel podcast could discuss trip ideas, travel mishaps, and travel hacks! With a good audience, you could eventually get brand sponsorships and ad revenue. You can read more about starting a podcast HERE

Travel Writer

Travel writing comes in a few forms, but the main way people love to consume travel content is through blogs! A travel blog can take every reader on an adventure and inspire them to go on their own journeys. A well-engaged audience will be easy to monetize through resources, consults, brand sponsorships, affiliate marketing, merch, ad space, and more! 

To start your travel blog, you just need to establish your niche, develop your voice, and start pumping out high-quality, search-engine-optimized content that’ll speak to your followers. With some hard work and dedication, you’ll find your following and your blog will blossom!

Vlogger

Vlogging is similar to blogging, but instead of writing, it’s video content uploaded to TikTok, YouTube, or another video platform. If you prefer video editing and filming to writing, this might be a great way to make money off your travels. Like blogging, you can earn money through brand collaborations, affiliate marketing, selling products, and leveraging ad space. 

With a monetized blog, you can have the freedom to explore without the constraints of a traditional job
There are plenty of opportunities to get paid for traveling! 

Getting paid to travel is not only possible, but you can do it yourself! If you decide to monetize your travels by opening a blog, definitely check out our Influencer SEO blog that’s FULL of great content on how to scale your brand and influence.

With a monetized blog, you can have the freedom to explore without the constraints of a traditional job. Plus, the possibilities for growth are endless. Not only can you get your travel expenses covered with a blog, but you can make a real living traveling the world! See the world and build your brand with us at Influencer SEO

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