As explained in the previous post Localisation of tourism content: why and how to do it, localisation of tourism related materials is an important step to engage and attract visitors from specific countries. Limiting efforts to the mere translation of handouts may contribute to a loss of opportunity: providing your readers with pure information may be far less effective than localising the content to their needs, expectations and possibilities.

Below you can find 3 examples of strategies that limit your chances to successfully localise tourism content.

Printing all language versions in one handout

It might be a good way to save time and money, but in the long run multilingual brochures will serve merely as a source of information. Such layout will prevent from localising your content for a specific group of readers due to limited space and lack of possibility to localise graphics in order to address different needs of the target audience. It won’t be possible to change the format (for example for languages read from right to left) and the size of brochure for different language versions. Although the content will be translated, it won’t be properly adjusted to the target readers, thus failing to attract their attention.

Producing separate handouts for every language without editing the content

Again, it’s a loss of opportunity to specifically address tourists from the chosen country. If the translated brochures or leaflets are to be printed out in a monolingual version for a specific target group, why not take a little extra effort to localise the content? This process doesn’t have to be time-consuming nor costly. Sometimes it might be enough to change the order of the content, add one extra paragraph or use different images that are more likely to engage the readers. In some cases more in-depth localisation will be needed, with different texts, graphics and colour scheme, but the efforts will pay back in terms of more satisfied tourists ready to discover all opportunities presented to them in the leaflet.

Overlooking the importance of graphics

Images speak louder than words. That’s why localising the text, but ignoring the impact of localised visuals is only the halfway to success. Careful and targeted choice of images with relevant sport activities, events, points of interest or natural resources enhances the chance of attracting interested visitors and presenting the destination from the most appealing perspective. Some target groups may be more into sport, others may prefer culture or nature or a mix of both, so their needs and requirements have to be addressed to provide more attractive content.

Do you know other examples of successful or unsuccessful strategies in localisation of tourism content? Share it below so we can all learn!

Dorota Pawlak

Dorota helps digital brands infuse their content with a local touch. She is a localization consultant, translator specialized in IT, prompt engineer, and a book author. Dorota teaches online courses on localization, writes for her blog and a Medium publication. She also runs a Small Biz AI, a Substack newsletter for freelancers and small business owners ready to discover handy AI tools.