Brand colours · Travel
Brand colours for travel startups
A ready-to-use palette for a travel brand, tested for contrast and shown on a real app screen, pitch deck and business card. Copy the hex codes, or use it to see what good looks like before you choose your own.
Meet the sample brand
To show the palette working, we built it for a fictional travel company.
How it should feel
Travel sites default to turquoise beaches and sunset gradients. So Safarnama goes a different way, using glacier as its signature and prayer flag for the moments that matter.
Fonts: Josefin Sans for headings, Lato for body text.
The palette
Four colours, each with one job. Click any swatch to copy its hex code.
Glacier
#2B7A9E · RGB 43, 122, 158A mountain-lake blue that evokes the destination.
Prayer Flag
#E8603C · RGB 232, 96, 60A vivid orange-red for booking buttons and highlights.
Night Pass
#14202A · RGB 20, 32, 42Deep blue-black for itineraries.
Snowfield
#F5F7F7 · RGB 245, 247, 247Crisp light background like snow.
A good split: mostly light, dark for text, primary for key moments, accent sparingly.
The palette in use
Colours only prove themselves on real things. Here it is on the three places a travel startup shows up first.
App screen
Pitch deck slide
Business card, front and back
Contrast check
Text must stay readable. We checked each pairing against the WCAG standard, where 4.5 to 1 passes for body text.
| Use | Sample | Ratio | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body text | Aa Safarnama | 15.4 : 1 | Pass AA |
| Text on primary | Aa Safarnama | 4.8 : 1 | Pass AA |
| Accent on dark | Aa Safarnama | 4.9 : 1 | Pass AA |
| Primary on light | Aa Safarnama | 4.5 : 1 | Large text only |
| Light on dark | Aa Safarnama | 15.4 : 1 | Pass AA |
What to know about colour in travel
The palette is only a start. These are the traps we see most in this industry.
What the category already owns
Travel sites default to turquoise beaches and sunset gradients.
Avoid
- A palette that only suits one destination when you sell many.
- Low contrast text over photos.
Use your palette over your three best trip photos. Travel brands sell the place, so colours should come from it.
Choose your own in four steps
Use the sample as a reference, then make it yours.
Write your positioning
Colour follows strategy. Know who you serve and how you want them to feel first.
Map the competition
Screenshot five travel competitors and note the colours they own. Pick a lane nobody holds.
Build four colours
A primary, an accent, a dark and a light. Check contrast before anything else.
Test it on real things
Your app, a deck slide and the place customers meet you offline. Fix what fails.
Questions
What are good brand colours for a travel startup?
Start from a primary that the category does not already own. Travel sites default to turquoise beaches and sunset gradients. The sample palette here uses Glacier (#2B7A9E) as the primary with Prayer Flag (#E8603C) as the accent.
How many colours should a startup brand have?
Four is enough: a primary, an accent, a dark for text and a light for backgrounds. Use them roughly 60, 30 and 10 percent, with the accent the smallest share.
Can I use this palette for my own brand?
Yes, it is free to use as a starting point. Change at least the primary so it fits your positioning and stands apart from your competitors.
How does Astitva choose brand colours?
Astitva writes your brand strategy from a short brief, suggests a palette that fits it, checks the text contrast and then uses the same colours across your logo, brand book and pitch deck.
More for travel founders
Every guide for this industry, in one place.
Get a palette made for your startup
Astitva writes your brand strategy from a short brief, picks colours that fit it, checks contrast, and uses them across your logo, brand book and pitch deck.
Start free with 50 credits