# What makes a travel flyer sell: the anatomy, part by part

> A travel flyer sells when a stranger can say where, how much, what is included and how to book within three seconds. The parts that make that happen, the price block most flyers get wrong, what changes between print and screen, and one flyer rebuilt.

*Source: https://itravel.cloud/blog/what-makes-a-travel-flyer-sell · published Nov 1, 2026 · topic: Travel marketing*

A travel flyer sells when a stranger can answer four questions in about three seconds: where is this, what does it cost, what do I get, and how do I book? That takes one destination photograph, a headline naming the trip, a "from" price with what it covers and how long it holds, four inclusions, one call to action, and a contact line with your licence number.

## Read in three seconds: the order a flyer has to follow

A flyer is read in a fixed order whether you plan for it or not: the picture, the biggest words, the number, then whatever sits at the bottom. Design for that order.

1. **The place**, shown in the photograph.
2. **The trip**, named in the headline: the destination and the length, or the offer.
3. **The price**, with its basis and its dates.
4. **What is included**, in four short items.
5. **What to do next**: one call to action.
6. **Who you are**: the logo, the contact line, the licence number.

The test: show the flyer to someone who has not seen it, take it away after three seconds, and ask the four questions. If they cannot say where, how much and how to book, one part is fighting another for attention, usually the logo (too big), the headline (too clever) or the inclusions (too many).

## One photograph, chosen for the place

One strong photograph sells a destination better than four small ones. A collage asks the eye to choose; one image of the overwater villa or the temple at first light chooses for it. Keep collages for itineraries, where the point is several stops.

Choose the photo for three things:

- **It is unmistakably the place.** A generic beach could be anywhere, so it sells nowhere.
- **It has a quiet area for words.** Sky, sea, sand or a darkened lower third. Words over a busy market scene become a contrast problem that no shadow fixes.
- **You may use it in advertising.** Your own picture, the hotel's press photo with permission, or a licence that allows commercial use. Our guide to [free travel photos for commercial use](/blog/free-travel-photos-commercial-use) covers which licences do.

Set the photo's focal point on the subject, so that when the same design becomes a story or a square, the crop keeps the villa and loses the empty sky.

## A headline that names the trip

The headline is the destination and the length, or the offer, in as few words as you can: "Maldives", "Bali by the sea", "Early booking: Europe 2027". Adjectives such as "amazing", "unforgettable" and "dream" cost space and say nothing the photograph has not already said.

Put the length where it is easy to find. The trade writes "4 nights · 5 days" or "4N/5D" for a reason: after the price, it is one of the first things a buyer compares. A short kicker above the headline does the job.

In another language, the headline is where length shows first: one that fits in English can run far longer in Tamil or German. Leave room, or write a shorter headline for that language rather than shrinking the type; [multilingual travel marketing](/blog/multilingual-travel-marketing) goes further.

## The price: "from", what it covers, and until when

A bare number is the weakest part of many flyers. "699" leaves three questions the flyer should answer itself:

- **From what?** "From" is fair only if the price is genuinely available on the dates and rooms you are advertising.
- **Covering what?** Per person, twin share, per room or per family; flights included or not; taxes and fees included or not.
- **Until when?** "Valid for travel 1 May to 30 June", or "Book by 31 January". A flyer pinned to a noticeboard keeps selling long after the offer has changed.

Set the price as one block: "From" small, the figure large, the basis directly beneath it, never in the small print at the foot. A condition that changes the price belongs where the price is read. What counts as a fair price claim depends on where you advertise; [travel advertising price rules](/blog/travel-advertising-price-rules) sets out the main ones by market. Your terms are yours to set; the flyer states them where they will be read.

In [iTravel Studio](/travel-flyer-maker), a template's price is three separate parts (the "From", the figure and its basis), and the check that runs before every download flags a price that does not say what it covers. It flags; it never writes the wording for you.

## Inclusions: four you can show, not fourteen you can't

List four inclusions, each in one or two words with a small icon: flights, villa, seaplane, meals. Four is what a reader takes in at a glance, and what fits beside a price on an A5 page or a phone. The rest belongs in the caption, the quotation or the reply to the enquiry.

Pick the four a buyer compares you on, not the four that cost you least. For a resort package that is usually the flights, the room, the transfer and the meal plan. For a tour it may be the guide, the entrance fees, the hotel class and the group size.

Studio's offer posters hold up to four inclusions as icons with words beneath, and each layout is measured before it is drawn: where the panel would run into the words above it, the inclusions give way first, so the price and the call to action stay on the page.

## One call to action, then who you are

Write one call to action as the action itself: "WhatsApp us to book", "Call to reserve", "Scan for the full itinerary". Two make the reader choose, and some choose neither.

Then the contact line, at the foot, in the same order on every flyer you make:

- the phone or WhatsApp number, the email and the website;
- the logo, small;
- your **licence or registration number**, where your licensing scheme or your market expects it in advertising;
- "T&C apply" in one short line, if your terms say so.

A QR code earns its place on a printed flyer that is read away from a phone: on a counter, a noticeboard or a trade-fair stand. Printed, give it at least 20 mm, the minimum Studio's check asks for.

In Studio the posters take the phone (or WhatsApp), the email and the website from the brand kit; where the kit has none yet, a stand-in such as "Your phone number" shows and the pre-export check names it. A QR code added in the editor opens your website, or a WhatsApp chat with your number. The Brand page has no licence-number field yet, so add it as small print and save that design as one of your own templates for the team to start from. More in [a brand kit for a travel agency](/blog/travel-agency-brand-kit).

## Print or screen: what changes

The anatomy stays the same. The craft does not.

| | Printed flyer (A4, A5, DL) | Screen (feed post, story, status) |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 300 dpi at the printed size; under 200 dpi looks soft | The platform's pixels, such as 1,080 wide |
| Edges | 3 mm bleed beyond the trim; words at least 3 mm inside it | Words clear of the app's own bars on a story |
| File | A PDF with bleed, and crop marks if the printer asks | PNG for sharpness, JPEG for a smaller file |
| QR code | At least 20 mm wide | A tap usually beats a scan |
| Detail | All of it on the page; nobody can click | The caption carries what the picture leaves out |
| Life | Weeks or months, so dates matter more | Hours; the next post replaces it |

Print catches people out on the photo. An A5 page is 148 mm wide, so a photo across it needs about 1,750 pixels for 300 dpi. A 1,200-pixel copy, the kind that arrives over chat, prints at about 206 dpi, at the edge of looking soft.

Studio's print sizes include A4, A5, A3, DL, US Letter and a square leaflet. Each downloads as "PDF for a print shop" with 3 mm bleed and optional crop marks; a photo or colour band touching an edge is carried into the bleed, so trimming leaves no white hairline. The check before download gives the dpi a photo will print at and flags words within 3 mm of the trim. Studio does not make a CMYK press file yet, so if your printer wants one, ask whether they convert from a standard PDF. For screen shapes, see [social media image sizes for travel](/blog/social-media-image-sizes-for-travel).

## Before and after: one flyer rebuilt

Say an agency has an A5 flyer for a five-night Bali trip (every figure is illustrative).

**Before.** Four photos in a grid: a beach, a temple, a plate of food, a pool. The headline reads "Amazing Bali Holiday Package!!!" in three colours. The price is "699" in a starburst, with no "from", no basis and no dates. Twelve inclusions sit under it in small type, then two buttons, "Call now" and "Visit our website". The logo fills the top quarter. The phone number is light grey on white, and there is no licence number.

**After.**

- One photograph: rice terraces at first light, the lower third darkened for the words.
- Kicker "5 nights · 6 days"; headline "Bali".
- Price block: "From", then "699", then "per person, twin share, flights included".
- Dates line: "Valid for travel 1 May to 30 June".
- Four inclusions with icons: flights, hotel, transfers, breakfast.
- One call to action: "WhatsApp us to book".
- At the foot: the logo small, then the WhatsApp number, the email and the website on one line, with "Licence no. 12345 · T&C apply" just above.
- Downloaded as a print PDF with bleed, and the terrace photo checked at over 300 dpi.

The three-second test now passes: Bali, from 699 a person sharing, flights and hotel included, WhatsApp to book. Three things were added (the basis, the dates and the licence number); everything else was cut or put in order.

## The checklist before it goes out

- **One photograph** of the actual place, cleared for advertising, with a quiet area for the words.
- **A headline** that names the destination and length, or the offer, with no adjectives doing the photo's job.
- **The price as one block**: "from", the figure and its basis together, never the basis in the small print.
- **Validity dates** for travel or booking, on the page.
- **Four inclusions**, the ones buyers compare on.
- **One call to action**, in the channel your enquiries really arrive through.
- **The contact line**: phone or WhatsApp, email and website, with the logo small.
- **Licence or registration number** where your market expects it, and "T&C apply" if your terms say so.
- **Contrast**: every line readable on whatever sits behind it.
- **For print**: 300 dpi at size, 3 mm bleed, words 3 mm inside the trim, a QR code of at least 20 mm, a print PDF.
- **For screen**: the platform's size, words clear of a story's bars, the details in the caption.
- **The three-second test**, on someone who has not seen it before.