A good account changes a whole year in this market. But before discussing price, there is a question that decides everything else, and almost nobody asks it.
The three types of client
They buy neither the same thing nor at the same rhythm.
Local advertising agencies buy in batches, fast, with short deadlines because they have already used part of the calendar internally. They come back every month if the first delivery went well.
Hotel groups and operators buy by season, with recurring needs and a particular demand on rights: they run content on their own site, on booking platforms and in advertising, often for years.
Free-zone companies buy something else: recruitment content and internal communication, usually in English, with strong confidentiality constraints.
How they buy
Three differences from a brand direct.
Volume: rarely one video, often a batch with variants and two languages.
Speed: the window between request and delivery is short, and punctuality weighs more than perfection.
And repetition: a satisfied client comes back, which is worth more than a high rate obtained once.
What they pay
Less per video, more over the year.
The unit price is almost always lower than a brand's direct rate, because there is an intermediary margin and because volume compensates. That is not an anomaly, it is the model.
What is not discounted, on the other hand, is usage rights. They are priced separately, with duration, territory and channels written down, and they do not follow the volume discount. In this market a hotel's content serves two to three years: so it is bought for two to three years.
What they will try to get for free
Four things, to know before saying yes.
Unlimited revisions, because the end client changes their mind. Set the number of rounds included.
Extra variants presented as details: each variant is a line.
An English version treated as a translation. That is a second shoot, and it is invoiced as such.
And a rights extension "just in case", slipped into a message rather than the contract.
The calendar governs everything
That is the most structuring local particularity.
Production concentrates before the tourist high season, then slows abruptly. Agencies and groups know they need images at that moment, and they all look during the same weeks.
Two moves follow from that. Offer your availability three months early, when nobody is thinking about it yet. And sell low-season sequences during the low season: they are the ones everybody will lack the following year.
What changes when an agency sits in the middle
| Topic | Direct | Through an agency |
|---|---|---|
| The brief | Discussed with the brand | Already settled, hardly negotiable |
| Revisions | One or two | Often three, approved in a chain |
| Payment | On delivery | On the agency's calendar |
What you ask from the first exchange
The end brand's name, the number of rounds included, the payment date and the exact use of the videos.
What protects against non-payment
A purchase order signed before the shoot. An enthusiastic email has never settled an invoice.
How to get in
Through the producer, not through management.
The person who chooses creators is the one who sets up the shoots. Write to them with three videos in the same category, a dated availability line, and two clarifications that save time: the languages you deliver in, and the fact that you can issue a compliant invoice.
Sources
Checked on 4 September 2026. Thresholds and rates change: where this guide and the official source disagree, the official source is right.
