Forget the glossy brochures with their stock images of paradise – today’s travelers want a glimpse of the real deal to inspire their next trip. That’s why they so often turn to the forum that can truly offer the authenticity they seek – social media.
When seeking inspiration, most travelers (52%) tend to default to their friends and family. After all, it’s hard not to be enchanted by the pictures in a friend’s slideshow when they are accompanied by stories of travel adventures, success and mysteries.
Afterwards, many of these snapshots get posted to social media with the hope that they elicit similar feelings among others in their network. It makes sense then that social media is the next best source of travel inspiration (35%), already overtaking traditional channels including travel agents (29%), travel media publications (26%) and TV and film entertainment (25%). And who spends the most time on social media? Gen Z. Roughly 90% of Gen Z adults spend at least one hour on social media platforms every day, and close to half spend more than three – far more than older generations.
With purchasing demographics getting progressively younger, marketers within the travel sector will need to switch up their tactics to meet younger classes of travel enthusiasts on their digital turf.
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