Choose a travel image by asking two questions: does it accurately support the page and do you have permission for the planned use? Keep both answers with the asset. This gives the team a reliable basis for publication and for later reuse in a campaign.

A visually appealing photograph is not enough on its own. For a hotel offer, verify the property and room context. For a destination guide, decide whether the image shows a specific place or serves as a clearly illustrative scene. These decisions should be checked before the image is placed beside an offer.

Verify the subject and the source

Keep the original asset reference, supplier or creator and the information used to identify the subject. If a photograph is meant to show a particular room type, obtain suitable confirmation rather than inferring it from furniture or a filename.

Ask a reviewer to compare the photograph with the words around it. This helps catch a mismatch introduced when an image is moved from a broad destination page to a specific property offer.

Where the subject cannot be verified, use a different image or adjust the intended use so the page makes no unsupported identification. Do not let a convenient download decide what the article claims.

Check permission for the proposed publication

The UK Intellectual Property Office explains that images found online are generally protected by copyright. Commercial reuse normally needs appropriate permission unless another valid basis applies. Finding an image through search does not establish permission to publish it. Source: UK Intellectual Property Office: digital images and the internet

Write down the proposed use before checking the terms: website, email, social post or paid advertisement. Include intended edits and duration where relevant. This makes it easier to compare the plan with the permission actually offered.

GOV.UK explains that a licence allows specified uses of someone else’s copyright. Retain the terms for the actual asset rather than assuming that a previous download, payment or publication settles every future use. Source: GOV.UK: using somebody else’s copyright

Read the exact Creative Commons licence

Creative Commons licences have different conditions. Some include non-commercial restrictions or limits on sharing adaptations. Check the specific licence and version attached to the work before deciding that it fits a commercial travel page. Source: Creative Commons: about the licences

For example, CC BY 4.0 allows commercial sharing and adaptation subject to conditions including credit, a licence link and an indication of changes. It also warns that other rights, such as privacy or publicity rights, may affect the use. Source: Creative Commons: CC BY 4.0

Treat the licence summary as a starting point and read the applicable terms. Keep any required credit with the asset so it can be included in the final layout instead of being lost during design.

Keep a usable image record

Create a record containing the source, asset reference, permitted uses, required credit and any restrictions. Add the date checked and the pages where the image is used. This gives colleagues a way to review a proposed reuse without starting from an unexplained file in a shared folder.

If an asset comes through a website builder or supplier library, check the terms that apply to that asset and use. Do not replace that check with a broad assumption that every image is unrestricted.

Where terms are unclear, seek written clarification or choose an alternative with suitable permission. Resolve the question before publishing rather than treating an unanswered request as consent.

Review the image in its page context

Check the desktop and mobile crop so the relevant subject remains visible. Make sure the surrounding caption does not imply a feature or view that has not been verified. This joins the rights check to the accuracy of the finished page.

W3C advises choosing text alternatives according to an image’s purpose. Informative images need useful information conveyed in text, decorative images normally use an empty alternative and image controls need wording for their function. Source: W3C: images tutorial

Finally, verify the credit, link and any required notice on the published page. Keep that result with the asset record so the permission review and actual publication can be traced together.

Related reading

• Copyright: understand the permission question.

• Image licence: check the intended use.

• Creative Commons licence: read the exact conditions.

• Alternative text: describe the image’s purpose.

Written and updated by Travelgenix. Sources checked on 16 October 2026. Worked examples and checklists are editorial illustrations and recommendations, not customer results.

Sources

• UK Intellectual Property Office: digital images and the internet

• GOV.UK: using somebody else’s copyright

• Creative Commons: about the licences

• Creative Commons: CC BY 4.0

• W3C: images tutorial