Reviews
Part of Travel creator campaigns reviews explained for UK tourism teams
How to assess agencies working with travel creators
A UK guide for brands assessing agencies working with travel creators, covering ASA disclosure rules, contracts, audience data, reporting and evidence.
What to take away
Assess an agency working with travel creators by checking how it runs paid creator campaigns for tourism brands, rather than relying on one client's opinion. Compare each agency against the same criteria and evidence before you shortlist.
- Set out what you need the agency to do and what evidence you will use to assess it.
- Separate vendor claims, independent evidence and your own judgement.
- Ask for documents showing who contracted with whom, how paid partnerships were labelled and how audience data was handled.
- Treat scores as a reading aid. Your brief, budget and region still decide the shortlist.
What to check when assessing an agency
Ask each agency for the paper trail behind its travel creator work: contracts, disclosure practice, audience research method, reporting templates and complaints handling. For a hypothetical destination campaign for VisitBritain, for example, ask every candidate for a sample insertion order, the contract clause covering ad labels, its audience data method and a reporting template.
A review can help you assess an agency, but it is not proof that the agency will deliver a live campaign. Check documents, published output and regulator guidance for yourself.
When assessing an agency's disclosure, check whether its published partnerships are clearly labelled and its contracts name the advertiser and require a clear label. In the UK, use the ASA's CAP Code and CMA guidance as the reference points.
A clear example label is 'Paid partnership with [advertiser]' at the start of the caption. Also check that creators use Instagram's Paid partnership label through its branded content tools, or TikTok's content disclosure setting, as appropriate. The contract should require the agreed disclosure to be in place before the post goes live.
Separate claims from evidence
Reach figures and award shortlists are vendor claims. Independent evidence looks different: Companies House filings, ASA rulings and platform rules. Editorial judgement is your reasoning across both, and should be labelled as such.
In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) administers the CAP Code, which requires marketing communications to be obviously identifiable. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) publishes social media endorsements guidance, including the joint ASA–CMA Influencers' guide to making clear that ads are ads. The legal backdrop includes the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the consumer-protection provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Check the ASA rulings database for relevant examples. For financial-sector clients, creators promoting financial products also need to consider the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority. Ask how the agency checks the applicable rules before publication.
The before and after table
Use this table to turn an agency's claims into checks you can complete before shortlisting. The left column is what the review gives you; the right is what you must confirm yourself.
Review vs your own checks
Before reading the review
- Agency name and specialism
- Signed contract naming advertiser
- Claimed creator roster size
- Confirmed creator list with data
- Example campaign write-ups
- Disclosure labels on live posts
- Stated reporting cadence
- Sample report with raw metrics
- Review score
- Your weighted score against brief
After your own checks
- Agency name and specialism
- Claimed creator roster size
- Example campaign write-ups
- Stated reporting cadence
- Review score
Nothing in the left column should reach a signed scope while the right column stays empty.
| Review gives you | Your checks |
|---|---|
| Named client sectors and campaign months | Ask for the advertiser on each insertion order and the contract date |
| Stated disclosure policy | Ask for a live post label and the contract clause that requires it |
| Audience data method summary | Ask for platform analytics screenshots and consent wording |
| Reporting templates | Ask for a sample report and who signs off the results |
Audience and data questions to ask
Reviews rarely cover audience quality in depth, because that needs platform data the reviewer may not hold. Ask the agency directly, and use a travel creator campaigns selection checklist to record the audience questions and evidence each candidate provides.
Audience and data questions
- Ask agency for audience quality data
- Put audience questions in writing
- Check timing and format of content
- Confirm who is data controller
- Confirm who is data processor
- Establish where consent sits
IAB UK research on mobile content and women's daily routines is a reminder that timing and format shape whether travel content is seen at all. Ask the agency how it will demonstrate that the timing and format of each post match your audience, and what audience data method it will use. Audience method matters more than follower counts.
Where creators handle personal data, ask the agency to explain its responsibilities under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and consult Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) guidance on data protection and controller and processor responsibilities. Ask the agency: who is controller, who is processor, and where does consent sit?
What the review format cannot tell you
It cannot say whether a specific creator suits your destination. That depends on your audience, season and budget.
It also cannot verify delivery quality on a campaign that has not run. Past output is a proxy, not a promise.
What your own checks must cover
Your checks must cover the contract, disclosure wording, data roles and exit terms. Ask for the relevant clause or method for each, and confirm them before shortlisting rather than after.
How to weight a review score
Scores compress many judgements into one number. Weight them against your brief rather than accepting them whole.
A domestic, seasonal campaign should weight disclosure practice and reporting cadence. Regulatory literacy matters when content enters a regulated area, such as financial promotions, or involves children's data.
A review gives Agency A 8 out of 10 overall but 6 out of 10 for disclosure. Your tourism brief depends on clear disclosure, so you weight disclosure at 40 per cent, reporting at 20 per cent and creative at 40 per cent. Agency B scores 7 overall but 9 for disclosure. Under your weighting, Agency B ranks first.
For further context on how reviews are framed, see the comparison methods guide. Use it as context, not as evidence about a particular agency.
Common questions
Use these questions to check whether an agency's evidence is current and whether you can resolve gaps before commissioning.
How current is the evidence in a review?
Check the current CAP Code, CMA endorsements guidance and the platform's disclosure settings; a review based only on old screenshots may not reflect current requirements.
What if an agency disputes a finding?
Ask for the document that resolves it, such as a contract clause or a live disclosure example.
