Before the days of social media, we used to visit a travel agency when planning our holidays.
They would offer advice on what to eat, where to visit and how to soak up the best of the local culture. This information is now freely available to us, and also tailored to our needs.
We follow accounts we resonate with, have the same interests, bucket lists and life lists. With these influencers holding so much power we have begun to see a dramatic shift in the holiday industry.
Hugely successful travel agencies such as TUI are closing their doors all over the UK because people just aren’t using them anymore.
Statistics show that we are travelling around the globe now more than ever, so why are travel agencies closing down?
“research shows that 46 million more overnight visitors travelled internationally in 2016 compared to 2015”– UNWTO (2017)
A study undertaken by Schofields Insurance in 2017 discovered that Millennials rate how ‘Instagramamable’ a holiday will be over the cost.
With 40% of Millennials basing their holiday choices off photo opportunities the tourism industry all over the world has seen a dramatic increase in footfall.
Millennial’s want their holiday destination to be beautiful and photogenic, where else would they shop for this other than the photo sharing platform Instagram?
“There is a strong correlation between perceived level of influence from social media and changes made in holiday plans prior to final decisions.”
– Social Media Use and Impact during the Holiday Travel Planning Process. Fotis J., Buhalis D., Rossides N. (2012) .
But how are they finding these ‘Instagramamable’ getaways?
Social Media Influencers are the new travel agency right in our pocket. Free to use and in our opinion, non-biased.
User-generated content is perceived as more trustworthy when compared to official tourism websites, travel agents and mass media advertising.
Trip Advisor has joined this trend by releasing a new personalised travel feed in 2018.
This allows users to track each others recommendations, share photographs and plan trips collaboratively. This will have a dramatic shift on the way people plan their holidays.
This is due to the trust we put in those in our close social networks. You’re probably a lot more likely to visit a restaurant if your friend recommends it!
Trip Advisor’s advertisement for it’s new travel feed feature.
With an emphasis on photogenic locations many turn to Instagram and Youtube to find hidden gems.
Charlie wild, Co-founder of The Travel Project and Social Media Influencer is all to familiar with this demographic.
Charlie and his girlfriend Jess have travelled the world through the eyes of local people, taking their suggestions and recording their travels on Instagram.
Initially they were unaware of how much following they would get but now have a strong standing in the tourism community. They regularly share images of beautiful locations around the world with their followers.
As Charlie discussed on The Round Table brands and tourist boards approach them to create advertisement content.
“It started as a way to record and share our adventures” – Charlie wild (2019)
It’s important to The Travel Project to work with responsible and ethical brands. Due to Social Media Influencer’s holding so much power over their followers, this is something Charlie deems important.
Now, more than ever being a Social Media Influencer holds a strong title. Millennial’s and Generation Z especially put these characters in the same category as celebrities and hold them in high standing.
They have become the new travel agent, you seek their advice on where to go, what to do and where is best to take photographs. Both of these business models highly resonate with each other as encouraging customers to use a service for a commission go hand in hand.
This is imperative to remember as a consumer of this content when planning our future holidays. Here are a few top tips from Trending Tourist on how to ensure your next holiday is more responsible and ethical.
- Do your research!
Don’t visit the first location you see on Instagram or anywhere else on social media. You can visit everywhere, just not all at once.
Look around for locations that may be “out of season” to help reduce the footfall at struggling locations.
Don’t believe everything your social media guru tells you, it’s not always true!
- Use ethical companies
Look around for companies who pay their staff well, take care of their local environment and don’t encourage behaviour that could negatively impact this.
When booking your next holiday make sure it’s instagrammable yet responsible. Look for locations that are not already over run with tourists. This means you might even get a better picture for your own Instagram!