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How the decade’s rise of social media changed travel

01/02/2020| 10:34:22 AM| 中文

Social media keeps us connected while on vacation and offers a space for instant reviews, it also has negative consequences like over-tourism.

Within the last decade, social media changed the way we communicate, connect, and, yes, travel.

According to Statista, 36.5 percent of people use social media for travel inspiration and ideas, and 60 percent share photos on social media while traveling. Each week, more than 1 million travel-related hashtags are searched, so whether we’re planning to travel or vacationing, travel and social media are connected.

Even though social media keeps us connected to family while on vacation and offers a space for instant reviews, these online platforms have had negative consequences like over tourism, highlighting how social media’s impact on travel is complicated.

To gather more insight, we spoke with leaders in the travel industry to get their take on how social media platforms affect the way we travel today.

Travel Agents

Tammy Levent, CEO of Elite Travel and founder of TASK, says, “Social media has helped [travel agents] grow our industry. We have a stronger presence than ever before.”

Passport Online, a company that posts social media content for travel agents, found that Facebook shares for travel agents were up 44 percent over the first six months of last year, and in 2018, engagement on social media channels was up over 100 percent from 2017.

“You have agents that have built their entire business on social media and have a great amount of followers, [which] is crucial when you have such great competition on social media,” Levent explains. “The longevity of constant material, blogs, posts, video and photos are the key to building your agency with social media. Creating a space of shares and likes with great content has grown many agencies.”

Despite how great social media can be, Levent says that it isn’t the only key to success: “Some agents rely on social media alone to build their business and it is not a wise move, they need to be seen on all platforms…Their brand, marketing efforts, along with a website has to work together. Customers still need to be assured they are working with a legitimate company.”

Despite how great social media can be, Levent says that it isn’t the only key to success: “Some agents rely on social media alone to build their business and it is not a wise move, they need to be seen on all platforms…Their brand, marketing efforts, along with a website has to work together. Customers still need to be assured they are working with a legitimate company.”

As the founder of TASK, Travel Agent Success Kit, Levent has found that Google outpaces social media in terms of travel agents connecting with consumers. Though, if agents are looking to utilize social media, she has found that Facebook is the best platform to engage with consumers.

Travel Public Relations

Thanks to social media, travel brands are no longer limited to print media. It provided a new place to share campaigns and ads that could be targeted to specific travelers all with the click of a button.

“With the rise of social sharing and the correlating desire for experiences over material items (in particular by millennials), social media has become the go-to destination for travel-related decision making,” says Allison Focella, Senior Digital Strategist at TURNER, a PR and social media agency that represents tourism boards like Bermuda Tourism Authority, adventure tour companies like REI Adventures, and hotels like The Lodge at Chaa Creek in Belize.

On the marketing side of things, Focella says that social media analytics has been a game-changer and saves travel brands significant time and money, while providing customers with travel ads that are more specific to their needs.

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TAGS: social media | travel | hotel | KOL
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