What is marketing translation for the hospitality industry?
Marketing content produced by the hospitality and tourism industry includes:
- Blog content
- Emails
- Information about local customs, laws, and traditions
- Information such as room rates, hotel amenities and safety features
- Menus
- Newsletters
- Press releases
- Social media posts
- Travel guides to the local area
- Videos
- Web copy
When starting an international marketing campaign, it’s usually best to get your website translated first. This is most customers’ first point of contact with a hotel after looking at search engines. Guests will be more likely to book with you if your website has been translated into their native language.
Therefore, getting your hotel’s marketing content translated can vastly increase your international sales. This is especially true in the age of online booking and review sites.
What are the challenges involved in getting your hotel’s marketing content translated?
The main challenge of marketing translation is maintaining your hotel’s brand identity while also using the right language and imagery to attract your ideal visitors. The language used in your marketing will differ depending on whether you’re a boutique hotel, a luxury chain or a budget hotel. An expert marketing translator will ensure your message is conveyed with the right style and tone.
Before you translate any content, do some in-depth market research to find out what your target guests want from a hotel. For example, British tourists like their home comforts. If your staff speak English or your restaurant serves a full English breakfast, make sure you mention this.
To find out more go to https://louisesoutertranslations.com/blog/translation-tourism-sector/
What language and variant should you get your hotel’s marketing content translated into?
English is a good choice to start with because it’s the most spoken language globally. But you need to consider your target market. If most of your hotel’s guests are French, then you should get your content translated into French. Or if most of your travel agency’s website visitors are American then you should opt for American English.
You need to consider differences between your local culture and that of your guests. Your marketing copy should, where possible, use their local references and idioms. This will create the impression that you understand and care about their needs.
5 tips for translating your hotel’s marketing content to attract more guests
- Make sure all information is accurate and sends the message you want to convey to your guests
It’s easy to get distracted by stylish terminology when translating marketing content. But fancy words won’t help promote your hotel if they give visitors the wrong idea.
- Create a style guide
The hospitality industry is competitive. To stand out from crowd you need to make sure your brand’s voice is maintained. Creating a style guide for each language version of your marketing copy will ensure that your message remains consistent.
- Translation or transcreation?
While a good translation reads well, it’s always based on content written in another language and tends to be quite literal. This works for information such as rates and safety notices. But for brochures, calls to action and travel guides, where ideas and imagery you need transcreation. Transcreation is multilingual copywriting and considers the culture involved, not just the language.
- Don’t translate keywords
Independent keyword research should be done for each language to ensure your content is properly localised. This will help you rank higher in the languages and regions you’re targeting.
- Don’t leave your translations to AI
There’s no denying that AI can be useful. But its translations are very literal, and it doesn’t take the cultural issues discussed above into consideration. It also lacks the industry-specific knowledge obtained by professional human translators for the hospitality industry.
How do you find a marketing translator or transcreator for your hotel’s content and how much will it cost?
Look at professional translation body directories such as https://www.iti.org.uk/find-professional-translator-interpreter.html. Here you can narrow down your search by language combination and subject specialisation. There are also boutique translation agencies which specialise in hospitality.
Rates vary widely so you will need to do research. Translations are typically charged per word or page, whereas transcreation is charged by the hour or project.
What are your favourite hospitality marketing tips? Let me know in the comments.
Useful resource
7 tips to make your English tourism copy attract more visitors