How to Pitch Condé Nast Traveler
We’re thrilled you want to pitch a story for CNTraveler.com. Condé Nast Traveler aims to inspire travel and inform readers about the world around us. We cover travel in a way that helps people travel better, smarter, and more safely. We are committed to telling reported and personal stories about traveling, with inclusive coverage that includes BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled communities.
Before you pitch, please read the following guidelines.
- Pitch stories and angles, not destinations (i.e., please avoid the “I’m going to [TK place], need anything?” route).
- Check if we’ve covered the story and/or destination previously. If so, why are you revisiting it? Is there a new angle?
- Have other publications written about this angle? If so, how will your story be different?
- If you’re pitching a personality, please include whether the story is an exclusive, and whether you already have access.
- Consider if you are the best person to tell a specific story, especially if it’s about a marginalized community of which you are not a member. If so, please tell us why you’re the one to write the piece and whose voices you’ll include.
- Disclose if your trip was sponsored in any way. We do not provide assignment letters for freelancers on group press trips. Trips can be pitched after the fact, with clear disclosure of the nature of the trip and the sponsorship.
Your pitch should be no longer than a paragraph or two, and include a suggested headline, your angle, your sources and/or characters, and why this story should be covered now. News pegs go a long way, and we especially appreciate story pitches that reflect responsible travel. Photo suggestions are always helpful, but can be discussed after the assignment is made.
While we are a travel publication, we also publish stories that intersect with other fields: food, environment, art, history, architecture, design, tech, shopping, nightlife, and more. Any features should have a strong backbone of reporting and reveal something new—we’re not looking for diary-like travelogues or stream-of-consciousness stories that follow the course of a trip.
Rates start at $300 for 500 to 600 words. We do not accept pre-written stories on spec—even if you have already written the story, please send only the pitch.
Below are some of the regular franchises and subject areas that we’re always looking for more pitches around, along with the editor to pitch. Please avoid sending the same idea to multiple editors. The email format is firstname_lastname@condenast.com.
This page was last updated on January 4, 2024.
What we’re looking for: stories about and by women-identifying travelers that go beyond “this is a woman who travels.” Pitches can range from first-person essays discussing anything from body positivity to this author’s reflection on traveling with her mother. We also want to hear about travel trends and communities (like this climbing movement and these fisherwomen), immersive travel features (similar to this trek along a Scottish trail) and women worthy of a profile (such as Samin Nosrat, Chef Sallie Ann Robinson, Alicia Keys, or Kiyanna Stewart and Jannah Handy of BLK MKT Vintage). As with any pitch, we'd love to know your angle, your access to a person or place, and any other insights that make this story a particularly good fit for Women Who Travel.
Editor: Lale Arikoglu
What we’re looking for: First, please familiarize yourself with the coverage we already have on the destination you plan to pitch. Your pitch should cover how this story enhances or complements that coverage. Please do not pitch a destination at large; we're looking for stories—be it news or openings, or a timely development or trend or cultural offering, that impacts how people experience that place. In your pitch, share how your expertise helps tell this story; preference is given to writers based in the cities they're covering, or who spend a notable amount of time in the destination they're writing about. It's stated above but worth reiterating: Please do not go the "I'm going to [TK place], need anything?" route.
Editor: Shannon McMahon
What we’re looking for: trend stories, reported pieces, service-driven articles, and first-person narratives. We also regularly publish individual reviews of cruise ships and a column called Onboard Obsession, which spotlights a specific amenity, service, excursion on a cruise ship—or an itinerary—that was a highlight of a recent sailing. Really, anything that provides insight about the industry and educates readers less familiar with the cruising experience.
Editor: Hannah Towey, Erin Florio
Outdoors
What we’re looking for: trend stories on new ways to explore, 101 guides to outdoor activities, reported stories on our environmental and economic impact on the outdoors, features on those changing the face of the outdoor industry, and first-person narratives on unique outdoor experiences. We’re as interested in state parks and less-visited recreation areas as household-name national parks, but in all cases, pitches need a news peg or seasonal relevance. Occasionally, we are interested in personal essays about time spent in the outdoors, though a sharp takeaway that is both deeply personal to the author while hitting on larger, universal themes is essential.
Editor: Megan Spurrell
Destination features
What we're looking for: features that investigate how a destination is evolving, creating deeper, richer travel experiences through thoughtful and inclusive new initiatives, introducing routes or pathways to experience what it has to offer in a new way, leading a fascinating trend or scene, and more. Pieces commissioned must have firsthand, on-the-ground reporting that can create an experiential story and include unique local perspectives, while also offering readers juicy intel for when they are on the ground.
Editors: Megan Spurrell, Lale Arikoglu
Air travel
What we’re looking for: trend pieces or news analysis of new airline routes, products, or perks; coverage of airport and terminal openings; explainers on airport innovations and new technology; intel and advice about TSA, as well as PreCheck, Clear, and Global Entry, and passport or travel document news and advice; airport and lounge reviews, intel, and tips.
When it comes to airlines, we publish reviews of new products, as well as roundups of the best seats in premium cabins. We’re always looking for stories on general airline or air travel advice, like what time of day is best to fly to avoid cancellations or booking tips to score ultra-cheap tickets.
Editor: Hannah Towey
Points and miles
What we’re looking for: service stories that offer insight into the points and miles space, whether it's an explainer on how you use a specific credit card to improve your travel experience or a round-up of the best credit cards for a certain reward or type of traveler.
We also regularly publish first-person columns on how writers spent their points and miles, giving readers an overview of the strategies they used to maximize redemptions for business-class flights, luxury hotels, or other travel perks.
Editor: Madison Flager, Matt Ortile
What we’re looking for: service stories that offer smart shopping advice for travelers, whether it’s a single recommendation for a product that has improved an aspect of travel for you, a roundup of what to pack for a certain situation or type of trip, or a vetted guide to the tech gear or beauty products worth a spot in your suitcase. We’re also looking for stories driven by expert recommendations or a niche point of view, whether it’s interviewing hotel experts to find the best top-quality sheets, or sharing a guide to spending time outdoors in a way readers may not have considered before. Please note: Our coverage focuses on products you can purchase online.
Editor: Meaghan Kenny
New Business Traveler
What we're looking for: interviews with interesting people who have fascinating jobs about how they are traveling for work right now. Pitches for this biweekly column can range from chefs to startup founders to photographers to designers to scientists—anyone whose job takes them on the road and leads to memorable and insightful trips. Previous interview subjects have included Diaspora Co.'s Sana Javeri Kadri, Camp Yoshi's Rashad Frazier, and Enrique Olvera's PR Director, Patricia Guerrero.
Editor: Lale Arikoglu
Stories about identity
What we’re looking for: travel-related stories that tell us about often-marginalized voices, highlight a personal journey, or spotlight a community that doesn’t often get covered in mainstream media. Yes, these are often very personal stories—and the stronger your angle, the better.
Editor: Matt Ortile
Food and drink
What we're looking for: guides to navigating local food and drink scenes, thoughtful pieces that spotlight or reflect on a regional culinary tradition or trend, and news-driven profiles or Q&As with those shaping the way we eat. We're always interested in pieces that explore how a community has made a mark on a city or place through its culinary traditions (including those in the spirit of our 50 States, 50 Cuisines package).
Editor: Megan Spurrell
Hotels
What we’re looking for: pitches on individual properties that go beyond an opening as an angle. Is this indicative of a trend? Establishing a new destination? Changing the industry somehow? We’re also open to longer features that do a deeper dive into more revelatory aspects of the industry, to stoke curiosity and/or provide some type of service. Hotel-driven personalities should have a distinct reason for being pitched.
Editors: Erin Florio
Vacation rentals and travel bookings stories
We're always looking for lists of places to stay that have a clear angle or theme. Perhaps it's a round-up of the Best Boutique Hotels in Palm Springs, or a collection of 9 Gorgeous Wheelchair-Accessible Airbnbs Around the Globe. We love: National Parks lodging, hotels with rooftop bars, hotels with rooftop pools, A-frame cabins, and anywhere with a spa. (Tip: Before pitching a Where to Stay list, just make sure we haven't written it yet.) We're also always open to pitches for our first-person columns, My Favorite Airbnb and My Favorite Airbnb Experience.
Editor: Jamie Spain
Travel Firsts
What we're looking for: Using personal essays, we’re interested in highlighting trips that required a leap of faith, or marked a major life milestone, as a notable first in the traveler's life; stories on how learning to ride a bike in Havana opened up travel for you; or a piece on what it was like to return to the hometown you struggled to come out in as a teenager. Essays can and should explore a range of emotions—from the humorous to the more introspective—and, ultimately, reflect on how the trip impacted the writer.
Editor: Megan Spurrell
What will it look like? Yes, there will be advances out of sci-fi, like space tourism and floating cities, but there will also be people-centered innovations that impact how we experience travel and where we choose to go. We want to hear about both—and everything in between. We’re looking for stories that examine the future of the industry as it’s currently taking shape, across the realms of tech, sustainability, accessibility, inclusion, conservation, design, and food. Tell us about the cities that are focused on urban regeneration and the sweeping conservation programs taking root in rural areas, or the big-name brands committing to carbon-conscious hotels and the gadgets that are advancing accessibility on planes. Successful ideas have included stories on the European countries offering free public transport to help combat air pollution and the new platform making it easier for travelers to find eco-hotels; others can be found here.
Editor: Hannah Towey
Ski and Snow
What we’re looking for: New and thoughtful approaches on how to cover ski and snow that aren't already on the internet. Unique winter experiences that have a sense of place/can only be found at a specific resort or snow-adventure area. Occasionally, we assign reported deep dives into the ski industry, along with trend forecasts, although these should be for an upcoming ski season and will need to make sense for the Traveler reader.
Editor: Matt Ortile
Queer Travel
What we’re looking for: The people, places, organizations, and stories that revel in the queer experience. These could include anything from personal essays, critiques on the industry, and round-ups to spotlights on a community. We would like to hear how travel has helped you explore your personal identity, gender, and sexual orientation—with a distinct point-of-view and solid angle on how places affect people and vice-versa.
Editor: Matt Ortile
Photo essay: On the Ground In
We are looking for photo journals that guide readers, visually, through a destination—highlighting the local culture, food, people, design, events, nature, or otherwise. These stories are photo-led, with brief one-line captions for each photo. We are most interested in pitches for destinations we have not recently covered, or those that complement existing coverage of popular destinations with a new perspective. To pitch this series, please include a sample of photos (we typically run 10-15), details on when they were taken, and a couple lines summarizing the story the images tell about the destination.
Editor: Pallavi Kumar
Photo essay: A Day In...
This series follows a local personality through a day in the place they call home—be it a city or remote outdoors destination, or anything in between—with 1-2 photos representing each goalpost in a day (breakfast, morning habits, lunch, afternoon, etc.), for a total of 5-15 images. This series can be pitched before execution. Please send the destination, the name, and a short bio of the individual you plan to follow for a day, including a case for why they offer an intriguing look at the destination in question; if you are pitching this story before shooting it, please include relevant work samples. Photographers will later be asked to share short descriptions of each moment shot throughout the day: names of places, what is being shown, any additional context from the personality, etc., to comprise multi-line captions for each. Alternatively, after photo selections are finalized, an editor will need interview access to the subject for as-told-to captions to accompany each image.
Editor: Pallavi Kumar
How I Got This Shot (non-paid)
We are open to photographer submissions for our How I Got This Shot series. Please note that this is not a paid opportunity, but photographers can pitch their work for editorial consideration. In this column, we highlight an individual travel image that inspires awe and wonder, with an incredible backstory. If selected, a writer will reach out to interview you about your photography experience and the specific circumstances that led to the photograph.
Past examples: Gentl and Hyers, Alex Strohl, Andy Mann
Editor: Pallavi Kumar
Music Package
Just like food, music is an entry point to better understanding and experiencing a place and its culture. This package will celebrate some of the ways to get to know the world through music—this could be anything from a fresh, new way to experience the legacy of Addis Ababa’s jazz musicians, a spotlight on the rising drill and trap scenes of the Dominican Republic, or a full immersion in the emerging rave culture of Lagos. We’re looking for experiential, reported stories covering both domestic and international destinations that celebrate the ways in which music can become an essential part of our travels—and lets readers in on how to access these experiences themselves. We’re also looking for pitches about musicians and tastemakers who know a music scene intimately, and can connect readers with them in new ways through guides and tips. Deadline: February 14
Editors: Lale Arikoglu, Arati Menon, Megan Spurrell
If you haven't heard back after two weeks, please feel free to take your pitch to a different publication. Thank you for reading until the end, and we look forward to reading your pitches.