Carlo Speth’s career in content marketing started with his passion for travel. While studying law at the University of Valencia in Spain, Carlo had a travel blog to keep his family and friends back home in Germany updated on his travels. Through working on his blog, he developed new skill sets, an interest in marketing, and a passion for travel, which led him to a job at HolidayPirates as a blogger. Nearly six years later, Carlo is still working with the travel company, now as the chief editor of the DACH region, and leads a team of 12 marketers.

HolidayPirates—one of Europe’s fastest-growing travel search platforms—has services in 10 countries and seven different languages. Carlo is responsible for all content produced for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. And while all countries in this region speak German, they each have their own varieties and ways of saying different things—and Carlo ensures the right tone of voice and content is used for each country.

During the interview with Kyler Canastra, Carlo chats about how HolidayPirates adapted their content strategy during the pandemic by focusing on providing up-to-date and accurate news on all travel restrictions, including updates on travel in the US and Thailand. They aim to be the helping hand while the world is figuring out how best to travel during the pandemic.

“You need to approach content marketing like you’re always inventing something new to constantly surprise your audience.”

According to Carlo, “people follow people” when it comes to travel, and HolidayPirates are positioning themselves as travel experts with their recent campaign, Pirates on Tour. They are also partnering with local travel companies, like Eurowings Discover, and tourism boards of Thüringen, Greece, France and Morocco, among many others, to share their real-life experiences of traveling during the pandemic.

Tune in for the full episode as Carlo chats with Kyler about the importance of storytelling in travel marketing, his leadership style, and what it’s like working in a co-working space in Berlinーplus more insights.

You can watch the full conversation in the video above or on YouTube, and listen to the podcast on Apple or Spotify.

Rapid-fire recs  

• Apps:
  • TikTok. “You can get a lot of valuable information for marketers if you follow influencers that share interesting topicsーand you’ll get this information snack wise.”

• Source of inspiration: 
  • Stand-up paddling. “My kind of meditation is stand-up paddlingーwhen the weather is nice in Berlin.”
  • Structuring my day. “I’ve found structuring my day into smaller pieces helpful. I try to split my day into 20 to 30 minute pieces while I’m working.”
  • Travel. “My source of inspiration definitely is travel. Getting to do something new, being open to new cultures, food and meeting new people. So many times I came back from a trip with the most interesting ideas and changes in mindset.”

Connect with Carlo and Kyler on LinkedIn.

For more on storytelling in travel marketing:

• Social media is changing every day – Skyscanner’s Ayoub El Mamoun on the future of travel
• How to make your content stand out in the travel industry – interview with Allan Formigoni from WeTravel
• Destination marketing 101 – interview with Florian Blois, EMEA marketing manager at Hotelbeds

To read the full transcript, click on page number 2 below.