Travels and translations have more in common than the obvious, aesthetically pleasing, alliteration. The world has become a thoroughly accessible petri dish of activities that revolve around traveling and doing business abroad.
But, be it business or pleasure, one aspect never felt more important than it does today. Tourism and translation go hand in hand, with one tiny mention: only a good translation can find that quality spot, the compromise between a good traveling experience and a professionally conducted business.
Promoting your business
The travel industry has been particularly successful during the last decade: from travel agencies to operators and accommodation (hotels, motels and everything in between), language is the cement that binds them all together. Part of that success is due to promotion and quality advertising, both aspects that, if done poorly, could put your business at risk.
Excellency in translation could secure your relationship with the customers or permanently damage it. Ranging from increasing the possibility of a guest to return to your hotel to promoting a new international business, tourism and airfare, translations can seal the deal or turn it to ashes.
Seeing as a good opportunity lies in the eye of the customer, the target language should be a priority. Any interested client will choose the most convenient option, which often relates to the level of professionalism employed and the correctness of their own language when it comes to any promotional materials, advertisement, brochures or simple directions that would make a foreign country seem a friendlier and a more familiar place.

Tips, tricks, translations and tourism
As a travel business, the most important step you can take in order to ensure the success of your new company is to create a bridge between your target audience and the type of language you use in order to appeal to that market. The rule to rule them all is to use terms that can be easily understood by everyone and not let yourself enchanted by the illusion of a complicated marketing style. Tourism attracts people everywhere and your main goal is to make everything accessible to everyone, without compromising quality and the professionalism of the venture you are running.
The best approach is to hire competent translators, capable not only to translate, but also localize your content. Some phrases and expressions, translated faithfully, would not sound as enticing in the target language or, even worse, the whole meaning could be lost. Any good marketing text will be able to hit the right notes and present to the client a symphony of carefully crafted pieces of information, designed to both please and reassure any future customer that they are in good hands.
Tourism does not only provide a service; it offers an experience. You need to be able to sell the entire adventure and that starts with a simple phrase, a few words that can capture people’s attention and keep it focused. And only a great quality translation can convey that message and its substance in the target language. This involves aspects such as tone, style, specific forms of address and various other precise techniques, customized by country and target audience.

The experience abroad
However, the travel industry is more than brochures and a good marketing campaign. Every holiday spent abroad can be easily influenced by even the tiniest details, most of which concern language and how this barrier is perceived in each and every country.
Popular tourist destinations attract millions of people, and most of them cannot afford to go abroad as often as they would like. Therefore, making their trip worthwhile becomes more than a business, it becomes a responsibility.
Using online translators or machine translations, especially in Asian countries, could lead to a very confusing and often doomed traveling experience, as direct translations can completely change the meaning of a sentence, of certain directions or warnings, making it more difficult for tourists to explore and enjoy their stay.
In order to avoid this type of situations and ensure people will want to return to the country, use your services or book your hotel again, a strategy needs to be followed. More and more countries are starting to recognize the impact a translation can have, and measures are taken so that only official translations are used for signs and other important guiding notifications.
The internet and its value
Nowadays, mostly all organizational activities are done online, including the booking of tickets, hotels, reservations, and everything travel related. As a result, it becomes crucial to acknowledge the fact that a poorly translated website would simply chase customers away.
While the strategic decision to translate your content greatly improves the chances to grow your business, when it comes to the travel industry in particular, you need to make sure that the language intricacies are correctly conveyed in the target languages, so that you can truly benefit from the advantages offered by the online environment.
By building a strong reputation and offering your customers content proficiently translated into their language, you ensure both their loyalty and an exponential growth of your business. From there on, there is nothing but smooth sailing ahead.
Bon voyage!
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