Tourism and hospitality are businesses entirely based on the delivery of a memorable experience. The great outdoors, the cultural hangouts, the mouth-watering ceviche followed by a mind-blowing passion fruit margarita and the most comfortable bed in the most expensive riad are just pieces of the big travel experience puzzle. And how can we convey the full experience better than in pictures ?
Great photographs are the key element in the promotion of any experience. Trough pictures we can tell a story, show places, people and products.
Trough a good photograph we can convey emotions, smells, tastes and we can generally open a portal to a different place in time where we can sample an experience that we never tried before. As a travel photographer, I daily confront myself with all the aspects of photography. From portrait and events reportage to food and product, from interiors and architecture to landscape and street photography a travel photographer is skilled in most all aspects of photography. Often I live with my clients from few days to a week, if video is involved, in order to capture the full experience; the area with its points of interest, the accommodation, the food, the people who facilitate the experience and the experience itself. Whether is a surf guided trip, a day in the local market, a special dinner, a yoga session or a dance class, I document it all.
It takes many years of experience, a fair amount of equipment, an overwhelming amount of skills; such as hi-technology, composition, artistry, light, people skills, poetry, psychology and many other I will not mention here, to make a great travel photographer.
And what better can be for a tourism focussed business to hire only one person to look after all its photography needs. This is what travel magazines do; Instead of hiring an interior photographer, a food photographer, an event photographer and so on, they contract a travel photographer who looks after all their needs. So if you are running a surf house, a retreat, a travelling company or just a hostel you will be much better to look into hiring a travel photographer that will not break the bank and make your business gain visibility and grow.