Maybe you have just finished a degree, or maybe you have realised that what you really want is to travel and share what you find. Either way, there are good reasons to make a master’s in travel journalism your next step, and our online Master in Travel Journalism was designed for exactly that moment.
Travel journalism lets you explore the world and tell its stories to thousands of readers. If you already studied journalism and want to specialise, or if you simply want to find out whether you can research a place and inspire an audience with your work, a master’s in travel journalism gives you the method, the feedback and the contacts to turn that curiosity into a profession.
Why study a master’s in travel journalism?
Because the craft is learnable, and learning it with editors and working professionals saves you years. A good program teaches you to find angles, report honestly, write and photograph for different formats, pitch editors and understand the tourism industry you will be writing about. It also gives you a portfolio and a network before you go it alone.
Career paths after a master’s in travel journalism
Picture yourself publishing features in travel media, building your own audience on social platforms or running the communication plan of a tourism board. A master’s in travel journalism opens several career paths, and most professionals end up combining more than one.
Freelance writer for travel media
Travel magazines and websites around the world, from National Geographic Traveler to Condé Nast Traveler and countless independent titles, publish features, narrative pieces and service journalism from freelance contributors. In print and online, you can pitch your ideas and build a relationship with editors, which is the core of a freelance travel journalism career.
Travel photographer
Photography is another way into travel journalism and an essential part of strong content. You can sell images to publications and stock agencies, illustrate other writers’ work, produce your own photo essays or offer your material to specialist outlets.
Communication strategist for tourism brands
Tourism companies and destinations depend on communication campaigns that need a specialised journalist: writing press releases, managing a social media strategy, producing branded content or shaping a marketing campaign, among other tasks.
Audiovisual content creator
Digital platforms have multiplied the formats a travel journalist can work in. Podcasts, video, Instagram or TikTok can all become ways to publish your own stories or create content for clients, and to earn from them.
What you learn: tourism, journalism and marketing
At the School of Travel Journalism (STJ), the program rests on three pillars.
Tourism is the main ingredient, for obvious reasons and some less obvious ones. The world needs new ways of travelling more consciously, so you will look at how the industry works and how digital content can support sustainable development in destinations.
Journalism is the tool for reinventing how we tell travel, through stories built on accurate reporting and a voice of your own. You will work on digital journalism and travel narrative in all its forms, and on the realities of working as a freelance or staff travel journalist.
Marketing is what sets you apart. Managing a travel account on social media, building a personal brand and learning to sell your work are part of this block.
You learn all of this with a faculty of working travel journalists, writers, photographers and tourism specialists who edit your work and share how the industry really operates. If you want a shorter first step, the Travel Journalism Intensive Program is another way in.
Is a master’s in travel journalism worth it?
It is worth it if you want structure, feedback and published work faster than you would get them alone. No degree is required to write about travel, but editors hire on clips, voice and reliability, and a specialised program helps you build all three while you learn.
Have questions about the online Master in Travel Journalism? Get in touch with STJ and start learning a new way to discover, and tell, a destination.
