The impact of social media on tourism marketing and the travel industry more broadly continues to grow. Around the world, social platforms are shaping travel and tourism trends and influencing how and where people vacation.
The travel industry is undergoing a transformational shift thanks to the power of social media to influence, inform and engage. In 2024, social media channels are the go-to resource when deciding on a travel destination.
Consider these findings from American Express:
- 75 per cent of travellers rely on social media for travel inspiration.
- 57 per cent agree they like to capture content for their social media accounts during their travels.
- 51 per cent say that most of their inspiration for where to dine and what to eat while travelling comes from social media.
- 49 per cent are motivated to visit a destination that will look great in photos/videos.
- 48 per cent want to travel somewhere they can “show off” on social media.
This represents a massive opportunity for travel companies that make social media a cornerstone of their marketing strategies.
Benefits of social media in travel and tourism marketing
Social media:
- makes it easy to inform people about a destination, and build excitement and trust.
- amplifies user-generated content, further enhancing credibility.
- expands the reach of marketing initiatives.
- engages travellers with high-quality photographs, videos and visual storytelling.
- builds a strong emotional connection to destinations.
- influences tourists’ decision-making when planning travel.
- allows businesses to connect directly with their target audience, answer their questions and build a sense of community.
- is a natural bridge to collaborations with social media stars/influencers.
How to unleash the power of social media in travel and tourism marketing
Develop a comprehensive strategy that includes both organic and paid social media
This is about showing up where your target audience is. The top three social channels for tourism marketing are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. On all three platforms, travel ranks among the most shared topics. This is where users look for information about travel destinations and post their own travel memories and experiences – good and bad. The key is to be authentic and make sure your brand voice and style are consistent across all your social channels.
Fast fact: Research from We Are Social revealed that 37 per cent of consumers get inspiration about travel destinations from photos and videos and 32 per cent from recommendations on social media, and 24 per cent from travel advertisements.
With more than 3 billion monthly active users — nearly 61 per cent of all social media users worldwide — Facebook offers access to the widest range of social groups and target audiences. Its recommendations feature encourages people to share their experiences, providing insight into what people are saying about destinations and the businesses they’ve worked with to make their trip happen — including yours. Facebook also inserts paid ads that look like regular posts into users’ feeds, capturing their attention in a natural way.
Instagram started as a photo-sharing app. Fourteen years later, beautiful visuals remain core to what sets it apart from other social channels and why it’s a natural platform for the travel industry. A few insights: Nearly half of people use Instagram as their go-to network when deciding on where to vacation. Seventy-one per cent of travel brands report Instagram brings more traffic and higher levels of engagement than other social platforms. More than 40 per cent of young travellers say what they see on Instagram influences their travel decisions. Another important statistic: the hashtags #travel and #vacation are used more than 200 million times each month on Instagram.
Tip: Hashtags offer an opportunity to show your personality and boost the popularity of your posts. While it’s fine to add 10 or more hashtags to organic posts, it’s important to be more discerning if you choose to include hashtags on your ads. The key is to make sure the hashtags you choose reflect your brand, will mean something to your target audience and align with the goal of your social media marketing campaign.
X (Twitter)
People don’t come to Instagram to read. Instead, they turn to X (Twitter) to find information, connect with brands and share feedback. It’s a great space to share tips, talk about promotions, respond to customer queries and showcase your brand voice.
Tip: Tweets with links create a call to action and increase interaction.
LinkedIn is an important tool for business travellers and helps travel companies reach a more focused audience of professionals interested in both business and leisure travel. It’s an opportunity to establish yourself as a trusted thought leader by offering travel guides, cultural insights about different destinations, corporate travel solutions and client testimonials.
Snapchat
Snapchat is an effective way to reach millennials and Gen Z, who are more likely to travel than users of other platforms, according to Snapchat. In 2022, it launched Dynamic Ads for Travel that offer brands an automated way to reach Snapchatters with relevant trip information based on their travel preferences and intent.
Make great content the foundation for your social media strategy
The key is to deliver fun, engaging, relevant content that will quickly capture your target audience’s attention and that is tailored to the social channel it will live on. Research what leading brands are doing and look at trending content.
Most importantly, create content your target audience will want to share. Getting your clients to share content about you is one of the most effective ways to build brand awareness. The more they share about you, the greater your reach. Encourage clients to create and share posts. User-generated content is one of the most effective ways to get people to engage with your business and provides social proof to potential clients. With their permission, repost their stories and content on your sites and be sure to comment and engage with their posts. This fosters a sense of community and expands your reach.
Use analytics to increase impact
Monitor and measure how and where visitors discover you and what they do once they’re on your channels. Social media ads track key performance indicators, such as views, social shares, number of followers/subscribers, average time on site, referrals and SEO ranking for keywords. Analyze your best performing ads and enhance them to further drive engagement.
Social media in travel and tourism marketing can help increase brand awareness, engagement and customer satisfaction in a cost-effective way. For travel companies, an effective social media marketing strategy can help turn aspirational browsing into actual bookings.
