Inside the Travel Creator Economy: Income Shifts, Press Trips, and the Rise of Community

What it means for Canadian creators, destinations, and brand partnerships

The travel creator economy is changing, but not in the way many marketers might expect.

New insights from travel creator researcher Dalene Heck, Founder of marketing agency, HMI, suggest that while many travel creators are still making a living from content, the economics behind that work are becoming more complex.

Advertising revenue has softened for many creators, while platform shifts and AI-driven discovery are reshaping how audiences find and engage with travel content. At the same time, travel remains a longer decision cycle than most online purchases, which makes it harder to convert content into consistent income.

For Canadian creators and destination marketers, these shifts come with an added layer of complexity. They are balancing global audiences with local brand expectations.

Yet if there’s one constant in the travel creator space, it’s adaptability.

Travel Creators Are Feeling the Shift

One of the biggest surprises from Heck’s recent survey was just how many creators reported that income is getting harder to sustain.

While creators are still building viable businesses, the margin for error is shrinking. Changes to ad revenue, fluctuations in affiliate performance, and the growing influence of AI on discovery are all contributing to a more uncertain environment.

Travel creators are particularly impacted.

Unlike other verticals, where purchases can happen quickly, travel decisions often take weeks or months. That longer consideration cycle makes monetization more difficult, even for creators with strong audiences.

Still, this isn’t a story of decline.

It’s a story of reinvention.

The Original “Pivot Machines”

Travel creators have always been early adopters.

Many started as bloggers more than a decade ago, learning SEO, investing in photography, and building audiences through long-form content. Then came Instagram. Then short-form video. Then TikTok. Now, many are exploring newsletters, communities, and owned platforms.

“They’re constantly pivoting,” Heck noted.

Today’s travel creators are no longer just content producers. They are building multi-layered businesses.

Some are launching tour companies. Others are creating niche travel experiences, like women-led diving trips. And some are even pursuing travel agent certification, so their followers can book directly through them. Many are building private communities, running group trips, or launching Substack newsletters to connect directly with their audiences.

The goal is simple. Leverage the trust and authority they’ve built and turn it into something more sustainable.

The Return of Press Trips

One of the more interesting shifts emerging from Heck’s conversations is the potential return of press trips as a core revenue stream.

There was a period when many creators stepped back from destination-led trips. Affiliate marketing and ad revenue were strong enough that press trips, especially unpaid ones, were less attractive.

That’s changing.

As those revenue streams fluctuate, creators are re-evaluating partnerships with destinations. Paid press trips are once again becoming a viable way to supplement income, particularly when structured with creative freedom and fair compensation.

In Canada, we’re already seeing signs of this evolution.

Programs like Creator Coast in Nova Scotia are experimenting with more tailored approaches, pairing creators with specific themes and experiences rather than running traditional one-size-fits-all group trips. It’s a shift toward more intentional, creator-first collaboration.

Community > Followers

Another key theme from Heck’s work is the growing distinction between audience size and audience quality.

“Following and community are not the same thing,” she emphasized.

Creators with large followings are increasingly recognizing that reach doesn’t always translate into revenue. Engagement, trust, and direct relationships matter more.

That shift is driving the rise of:

• Newsletters and Substack
• Private or gated communities
• Group travel experiences
• Niche content verticals

For travel creators, this often looks like taking their audience offline and turning content into real-world experiences and deeper connections.

The Canadian Creator Challenge

For Canadian creators, there’s an additional layer to navigate.

Many have built global audiences, with a significant portion of followers based in the United States or internationally. But brand partnerships, particularly with Canadian organizations, often prioritize domestic reach.

That creates tension.

Creators are producing globally relevant content but are sometimes evaluated based on how “Canadian” their audience appears.

The opportunity, according to Heck, is for brands and destinations to think more flexibly.

Rather than focusing strictly on geography, marketers can look at audience relevance, intent, and influence, especially as travel content naturally reaches beyond borders.

An Opportunity for Canadian Destinations

At the same time, destination marketing organizations are evolving their own approach to content and partnerships.

According to CrowdRiff’s 2026 Travel Marketing Trends Report, tourism marketers are increasingly blending creator content, user-generated content, and professional assets into connected storytelling systems that scale across channels.

Nearly half of travel marketing teams now use a mix of creator content and UGC to build more authentic, always-on content strategies.

That shift creates a significant opportunity, particularly in Canada.

Dalene recommends that rather than relying on one-off campaigns or single press trips, destinations can build longer-term relationships with creators. This includes bringing them back seasonally, integrating them into multiple campaigns, and allowing for deeper storytelling over time.

She notes that executing this kind of approach requires more coordination and long-term planning, something agencies like HMI are increasingly supporting as destinations look to build more sustainable creator programs.

For Canadian DMOs, this approach also opens the door to broader collaboration:

• working with both local and international creators
• showcasing destinations to global audiences
• partnering with brands across industries, from outdoor gear to travel tech

In this model, destination marketing becomes more than promotion. It becomes a platform for ongoing content, partnerships, and community-building.

Reinvention Is the Strategy

If there’s one takeaway from Heck’s research and the broader travel marketing landscape, it’s this:

The creator economy isn’t slowing down. It’s evolving.

Creators are building more resilient businesses. Destinations are becoming more strategic in how they collaborate. And brands have new opportunities to participate in travel storytelling in more authentic ways.

But success looks different than it did even a few years ago.

It’s less about chasing scale and more about building connection. Less about one-off campaigns and more about long-term relationships.

In the travel creator economy, survival isn’t about holding on to what worked before.

It’s about continuing to adapt and building something stronger in the process.

For more insights from Dalene Heck’s creator survey, you can follow along in her newsletter, where she’s breaking down the findings across a series of articles.

Her latest piece explores 5 Big Lessons Learned from the Creator Survey, with upcoming articles diving deeper into topics like what creators want destinations to know about press trips and how partnerships are evolving.

About Dalene:
A former National Geographic Traveller of the Year and W3 "Best in Show" winner, Dalene Heck co-founded HMI Marketing in 2013, marking her transition from a pioneer travel creator to a strategic leader in the Canadian tourism industry. Based in Nova Scotia, Dalene leverages her rigorous business background to help tourism brands build authentic, lasting connections through HMI’s specialized marketing strategies.