An itinerary is not just a passive travelogue, nor is it a generic checklist of places that your audience must log.

Rather, it is a powerful content tool to promote discovery and exploration. It is the art of bringing together experiences, weaving in human stories, and layering it with the practical details that leads to action. It balances narrative that excites, with the nitty gritty to make it happen.

The importance in a post-pandemic world

People are hungrier than ever for adventure. Even if it is still close to home, your role as a content creator is about curating journeys that give people the sense of discovery that we have all been deprived of during the pandemic.

EXPERIENCES OVER PLACES

When we focus on places, it can easily start to feel like a rigid list of instructions. Instead, the core of any itinerary narrative can center around uncovering experiences (as you can see in the example below). Visitors can find a place on a map, but where you add value is by curating a set of unique experiences that showcase the best of your area. You want to make your audience feel like they are in control and have the confidence to explore – you are guiding, not prescribing.

Putting it into practise:

• Instead of ‘Kyneton’, ‘Daylesford’…
• ‘Try pies at Australia’s most awarded bakery’, ‘Take a detour past a waterfall’…

“A map provides no answers. It suggests where to look: Discover this, examine that, orient yourself, begin here.”

– Miles Harvey

A HUMAN ELEMENT ADDS AUTHENTICITY

Foster an emotional connection between your audience and your stories. If we were to scrape back the top layer of your destination, what would we find? What personalities or experiences make up the fabric that makes this place special? Who are the creators, doers, makers, trailblazers? Who has witnessed changes, and who is making change?

Putting it into practise:

• Tell a story about the owner of the business that is mentioned
• Get a local to curate their own guide for an area

MAKE IT ACTIONABLE

A common mistake of content creators is to be either too general in their suggestions – making it hard for your audience to piece together anything actionable – or they focus too heavily on making it instructional. When curating powerful itinerary content, we know that it works best if you can find a balance.

If you wanted to take this itinerary (as a traveller) and follow it, could you do it without needing to source additional information?

Great travel content should overcome a travellers’ rational barriers – distance, scale, direction and travel time, while also considering irrational barriers – what will I find there? Am I going to like it? Is it worth the effort?

Putting it into practise:

• Try not to use broad statements like ‘when you arrive, explore some of the many great shops you’ll find’
• Instead, name a couple of the best stores (and indicate them in your itinerary as optional points of interest). In this scenario, you’re giving your audience some starting points, but you’re still giving them room to make their own discoveries nearby.

NOT A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL APPROACH

Don’t try to make an itinerary be everything to everyone – focus it on a specific target audience. If you make it too general, you will alienate your audience with experiences that are not relevant to them. Once you’ve lost their confidence in your suggestions, it is hard to build that trust again. So be specific, and make it clear upfront who the itinerary is suited to.

Putting it into practise:

• A family weekend in the Adelaide Hills
• A golfers guide to Victoria
• A wine lovers road trip through Margaret River.