Influencers become the new travel agents
Americans under 40 prefer to use social media - and influencers in particular - to plan their vacation trips. This is shown by a survey conducted by Morning Consult. Influencers, who do massive advertising for certain companies, are increasingly influencing this generation's travel planning. Travel agencies now rank far behind on this issue.
38 percent of respondents profess to use social media for their travel planning, according to the survey. For most travelers-to-be, travel planning sites such as Tripadvisor and Expedia are the most important guides. Fifty-seven percent use them. Travel agencies, on the other hand, come in a distant third at 19 percent.
84 percent of those who follow influencers have turned to them for recommendations. 63 percent engage with posts and reviews more intensively than they did before contact restrictions during the Corona crisis. This suggests that influencers could be an important resource for travel companies looking to lure back all types of consumers.
Travel industry jumps on the bandwagon
Some companies have apparently already picked up on this trend. Alaska Air Group even wants to influence baby boomers - those who came into the world during the baby boom years of 1946 to 1964. The airline, which despite its name is headquartered in Washington state, is looking for boomer influencers.
"Many travel companies are also turning to influencers to plan their campaigns," says Liz Montiel of influencer marketing agency Social Native, whose clients include hotels, airlines and companies such as car rental agencies. About one in three adults (34 percent) believe they need to book their travel accommodations in advance, significantly more than before the pandemic began. Pinterest is particularly important. On the platform, searches with the word "vacation" increased 24 percent from 2019 to 2020. This year, those searches increased three times as fast. (pte)
