December Checklist for Travel Creators: Prep for Peak Booking Season

December is the perfect time to prepare your travel shop for the busiest booking season. Use this checklist to optimize your profile, guides, and services, and boost your marketing strategy for success in the New Year!

Liv Coning

Marketing Lead

December Checklist for Travel Creators: Prep for Peak Booking Season

Dec 04 2024

While December is typically the slowest month for travel bookings, it is the best time to prepare for the busiest booking season, which runs from January until the end of March.

Of course, you don't have to complete everything on the checklist. Focusing on the top recommendations alone will ensure that you start the New Year on the right foot.

New around here? Welcome to Thatch!

Thatch makes it simple to publish and sell modern travel guides and services through your own online shop. While this checklist is primarily for established sellers on our platform, new sellers may find it helpful to review—it offers great insights into what makes you a successful seller on Thatch.

New to Thatch? Don't forget to register to sell.

December To-Dos:

Top Recommendations

Prioritize these before the rest.

Guides: Double-check that each Place card includes a note. Place notes help you rank higher in search.
Services: If you haven't already, set up travel services. Services help you earn more money.
Marketing: Audit your social channels and their link in your bio to make sure it's super easy for someone to find your Travel Shop.

All the Rest

Thatch Profile

Audit your Thatch Bio and see if there are things you could add, take away, condense, or explain further. Focus on why you know certain places well and how you travel, rather than citing stats like number of countries visited.
Give your profile photo and cover photo a refresh if needed.
Make sure your social account and website are linked - and that they work correctly. If not, remove and re-add.
Audit your destinations. Make sure the places you list are only those you know best.

Guides

View your paywalled guides in an incognito window to see what information is previewed before the paywall. The first 8 blocks are visible, so make any adjustments to better highlight the value of your guide, without giving your best insights away.
Click the three line menu in the upper left of your Guide to view its Table of Contents. Adjust H1 and H2 Headers to adjust the Table of Contents.
Ensure your guide descriptions include the value that your guide offers.
Make sure your free guides include hotel and activity recommendations so you can earn commissions. Or, create a free hotel guide to your top destination.
Link any other relevant guides at the bottom of each of your guides for cross-selling opportunities.
In free guides, add a message reminding folks to tip if they thought it was helpful.
Wrap up any unfinished guides and publish them in your Travel Shop.

Services

Ensure your service descriptions include the value that each service offers.
Record a great Seller Intro Video to help you stand out.
Audit your questions for each service and decide if you need to add or take any away. Too many questions may cause buyers to give up before checking out. Add a generic question like “Anything else I should know?” to give buyers space to share their top concerns.
Work to meet the Thatch Quality Standards and apply to become a Thatch Pro.
Watch the recording of How to Land Your First Sale - there is so. much. great advice.

Marketing

General

Think about raising your service and guide prices and run a "last chance" sale before the end of the year — letting folks know that this is the cheapest they'll be able to buy your guides and work with you.
Reach out to 3-5 friends, family members, or clients and ask for a testimonial. Copy and paste these testimonials into your guide & service descriptions.
If you have a blog or website, be sure to link to your Thatch shop and/or any specific guides. Or, use our embed feature to add a Thatch map to your website.
Take 30 minutes to plan a January promotional calendar for your Travel Shop - that way, all you have to do in the new year is execute it!

Instagram

Create a "Work with Me" Instagram highlight about travel services
Create a "Client Love" highlight for testimonials
Create a "Travel Shop" or "Travel Guides" highlight for promoting travel guides
Add "travel creator" and "travel planner" to bio for better visibility
Include travel guides and services info in pinned posts
Find 10-20 hooks/trends to recreate in the New Year and save them as "Reel Ideas"

TikTok

Create a “Work with Me” playlist that talks about your travel services.
Create a “Travel Shop” or “Travel Guides” playlist where you promote your available travel guides.
Make sure your bio includes “travel creator” and “travel planner” so it’s optimized for the right people to find you.
Make sure one of your pinned posts includes info about your travel guides and services.
Spend time finding 10-20 hooks/trends to recreate in the New Year and save them to a TikTok collection titled “TikTok Ideas.”

View this blog as a Notion checklist.

Final Thoughts

December may feel like a quiet month for bookings, but it's the perfect opportunity to set yourself up for success in the upcoming peak season. By tackling these recommendations - especially the top priorities - you'll be well-positioned to capture the surge of travel planning that begins in January.

Remember, you don't need to complete every single item on this checklist. Focus on what matters most for your business, whether that's polishing your profile, enhancing your guides, or boosting your social media presence. The key is to use this slower period strategically to prepare for the busy months ahead.

Start with the top recommendations, then work your way through the rest as time allows. Your future self will thank you when the booking requests start flowing in!