How To Get a 100% Free Travel Website Design That Supports Your Business +13 Examples

If you want to create a website for your travel business, you’ve likely wondered what it will cost you. Perhaps you’ve asked around and received a hefty quote for website design services. Before you get discouraged, here’s the good news: You don’t have to break the bank to get a top-notch travel website design that supports your business objectives.

Without paying a single cent, you can get a high-quality design for your tourism website, travel agency website, travel blog or any other type of travel-related business website. Sounds too good to be true? Continue reading to learn more about free web design services and discover a few amazing examples of fully-functional online travel websites designed for free.

3 tips for building travel websites

To make your travel or tourism website more effective as a marketing tool, here are three important things to consider.

Tip #1: Opt for a custom website design

If you are trying to save time and money, you might come across advice suggesting you use web builders or DIY platforms that offer ready-made templates. However, while templates might be easy to use, they do not help with building a loyal customer base and standing out in a competitive market.

Templates may provide a starting point but lack the originality and personalization needed to differentiate your travel business online. On the other hand, a custom web design approach allows for a unique, tailor-made website that aligns with your brand identity. 

When you have limited design expertise, it’s best to hand over the responsibility of creating a custom website for your travel brand to a professional. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to come with a hefty price tag, as you’ll discover later in this article. 

Tip #2: Use stunning visuals

For travel and tourism websites or hotel booking websites, nothing communicates breathtaking destinations, exquisite accommodations and wanderlust-inducing adventures like beautiful photos or videos. Remember that visuals evoke curiosity in your audience, which motivates them to explore what you have to offer. 

If you, as a business owner operating in the travel industry, plan to take a hands-on approach to building your site, investing in professional camera equipment and photo editing software might be essential. However, if resources are limited, or you do not plan to handle the visuals yourself, you can collaborate with professional photographers or travel bloggers to acquire authentic and captivating content that resonates with your audience.

Alternatively, consider utilizing stock photo sites that offer a wide selection of travel-related images. Just keep in mind that even your competitors could use the same images.

Tip #3: Implement advanced features and functionalities

Depending on your business model, you could get by with a basic travel site containing a few pages supported by a few key features. However, note that adding just a couple of upgrades to your travel website could exponentially improve the user experience (UX) and drive both engagement and conversions. 

Here are a few enhancements worth considering after you launch your online travel website.

• Online booking system: For travel agents, tour operators or travel companies offering services such as car rentals and hotel accommodations, implementing an online booking functionality can streamline the process for travelers. 
• Destination maps: By giving travelers access to detailed destination information, points of interest and navigation features, you can help them plan their itineraries and explore locations more effectively.
• Interactive pop-ups: Pop-ups are small graphical overlays you can leverage on your travel company website. As interactive elements, pop-ups can help grab visitors’ attention, share exciting deals or capture leads for email marketing purposes.
• Social media feed: Integrating engaging content from your own social accounts or your clients’ feeds on your website using a social media feed can foster trust and encourage visitors to explore further. 
• Live chat support: You can utilize technical support features to address traveler inquiries and provide real-time, live chat assistance to help visitors plan their next trip efficiently. 

2 things to avoid when designing a website

These two mistakes can cause unnecessary setbacks when building a travel website, so try to avoid them at all costs. 

Avoid inadequate research

Before you create a travel website, you should conduct thorough research to familiarize yourself with your target audience, competitors as well as current design trends in the travel niche. Without performing due diligence, you could end up with ineffective websites that fail to engage the right audience. 

Insights gained from research can inform your design choices and strategy. This can help ensure your travel website resonates with potential customers and effectively achieves the intended objectives. For example, if you discover that you can get optimal reach and exposure via search engines and search results, you can plan to implement search engine optimization techniques while building your website. 

Avoid poor budget and time planning

From choosing a web hosting provider to registering your domain name. From crafting the design to writing impactful web copy that supports your content strategy. Building a successful website involves many important details. Needless to say, without careful consideration and allocation of your financial resources, you may encounter problems. These could lead to website launch delays or bugs.

For many website owners, web design has the most significant impact on overall expenses. Of course, if you choose to find a professional freelance designer or a reputable website design agency, you may have to allocate thousands of dollars. That leads many business owners to use web builders. However, monthly fees eventually add up. Additionally, more money may have to be invested for upgrades in the long run.

Fortunately, you can get a custom, fully-functional travel website designed by trained professionals on a small budget.

How to design a travel blog, travel agency, tourism or accommodation website for free

Yes, it is possible to get a unique and high-quality travel website without paying design fees. Does this sound like a scam? Fortunately, that is not the case! 

Thanks to the virtual WAcademy web design internship program, trained interns are ready to design websites for small businesses at zero cost. But what’s in it for us? WAcademy is an EdTech company built to help the web designers of tomorrow. As we focus on quality training, we choose to work with small businesses that require website design services. 

By immersing themselves in travel website development and design projects, our interns gain real-world experience and are able to build a portfolio of projects they could leverage in their web design careers. And this model works! After all, we have already designed more than 30,000 business websites for free. 

13 inspiring travel, tourism & accommodation websites designed by WAcademy interns

To show you what’s possible and inspire you to build your own travel website, we have selected a few examples of beautiful travel websites designed by our talented interns. 

Explore Lisbon

Above the fold, this travel website features its logo alongside images of stunning landscapes to build brand recognition. The homepage also reveals a collection of familiar travel credentials that further reinforce the expertise and legitimacy of the travel agent’s services.

Global retreats

This travel website greets you with a video of crystal-clear waters gently lapping a shore. The visual immediately captures the visitor’s attention, and the intuitive navigation and design layout ensures a smooth customer journey. The effortless user experience seems to mirror the vibe of the trips that await the company’s customers. 

African safari

Photos of wild animals gracefully roaming through their natural habitats greet every website visitor. The visuals paint a vivid picture of the diverse wildlife available to the explorers in the heart of Africa. With each scroll, website visitors can uncover more about the enchanting safari destinations, tour packages and available accommodations. 

Tour Croatia

Upon entering this website, you are greeted by a fascinating hero image of colorful buildings adorning an enchanting coastal city. This immediately sets the tone for an unforgettable travel experience. The Book our tour call-to-action button stands out to ensure that visitors can explore the available destinations alongside their prices. This carefully planned user journey enables travelers to plan their dream Croatian adventure. 

Sail across Greece

What truly sets this travel website apart is the personal touch of the tour guides. The couple exudes warmth and passion while sharing their love of sailing across Greece. The high-quality photography in the gallery section allows visitors to visualize themselves on the sailing adventure. This motivates them to take the next step and book the experience of a lifetime.

Thai retreats

Beyond its visual allure, this travel website’s appeal lies in its focus on personal development. It is showcased in the thoughtful blog articles section that houses written content dedicated to inner growth and self-discovery. Navigating through the site is a breeze, with a user-friendly shop page where individuals can explore the enticing retreat offers.

Personalized travel experiences

With a keen focus on delivering unparalleled luxury, this travel website offers an array of curated travel experiences across a range of breathtaking locations. As you explore the site, you discover stunning images of iconic vacation villas, igniting a sense of wanderlust and anticipation.

Glamping in Ireland

This website offers an excellent example of how the hero section can offer a glimpse into the magical experiences that await with beautiful images of scenic glamping sites. The nature-inspired color scheme further immerses visitors in the tranquility and beauty of Ireland’s beautiful locations.

Lodging in Dorset

This website’s appeal lies not only in the rustic allure of a converted stable block but also in its functional and user-friendly design. Another thing that makes this website stand out from other websites is the guest reviews section, where visitors can read about authentic previous guests’ experiences.

Holidays in Normandy

This travel website offers travelers an authentic and immersive holiday experience in the heart of the French countryside. The innovative use of icons with descriptions throughout the homepage provides a quick and delightful overview of the unique selling proposition of this travel location.

Sicilian B&B

This website features a clean and modern layout that exudes elegance and simplicity. As you click on each navigation element on the homepage, the website elegantly scrolls down, revealing enticing sections that capture the essence of Sicily’s beauty and charm without the need for multiple page loads.

Rustic Jamaican getaway

The home/landing page of this inviting website with a captivating slider element gracefully showcases a delightful collage of images, offering a tantalizing glimpse into the experiences that await. The intuitive navigation also provides a positive user experience, allowing an effortless exploration of the guesthouse’s amenities, accommodations and available activities. 

Accommodation in Croatia

The homepage sets the stage for an unforgettable journey, featuring a dynamic display of large images that change seamlessly. This visual feast transports visitors to the heart of Croatia and reveals its natural beauty. A thoughtfully curated gallery section further enhances the website’s appeal, presenting an array of images that showcase picturesque views of the enchanting location.

Do you have your own travel or tourism website design idea? Let’s connect and discuss your vision. Our interns are trained to design fully functional websites optimized for mobile devices and search engines.

We can help you create a travel website that allows your business to lift off!